A Stunned Nation
Now Torn Apart
Former Detroiters now in Israel
see ugly battles and hostility.
ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM ASSOCIATE EDITOR
its capital, and Peres and Rabin were the first to defend
him."
Mr. Neuvirth also resents the attitude toward set-
tlers in the territories, a tone he said was set by Mr.
Peres and Mr. Rabin.
"Yitzhak Rabin was very antagonistic," he said. "He
called them 'a waste of taxpayers' money.'
"You hear a lot of 'the settlers this' and the settlers
that,' " he said. "Well, let me tell you, the settlers are
people just like anyone else. They go to work every day;
they love their children.
"Everybody has fanatics, and I disagree completely
with what they say. But you can't just come to people
and say, 'We're taking your land and you are moving
out.' "
Today, Mr. Neuvirth said he sees mostly apathy in
Israel. It's in the eyes of the man who sells him milk; it's
in the language of the man who fixes his car. The as-
sassination, all the painful issues involved with the peace
process, are bound, he says, to leave wounds for many
years.
"The age of Israel's innocence is over." ❑
II t has been days now since Yitzhak Rabin was mur- Israel get out of Oslo II? Nothing. Oh, I've heard that
dered, days since his funeral, but Israel's somber `we got diplomatic relations.' Wonderful. We should have
mood has in no way lifted. Only the anger has in- diplomatic relations anyway. And how about, But they're
creased.
lifting the boycott.' Well, they shouldn't have had the
"The mood here is terrible; everyone is boycott to begin with.
appalled," said Marilyn Ben-Ami, formerly of
"All we are seeing is an increase in terror, Israelis
Oak Park. "And there has been a lot of blame being killed by terrorists, and Arafat calling for jihad. He won't
put on people — mostly anyone who has a rest until there's a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as
kippah. There's a lot of hostility toward anyone on the
right politically, too, which is about 50 percent of the
public."
Today, Mrs. Ben-Ami is a resident of Jerusalem. Like
other former Detroiters now living in Israel, she remains
stunned by the news of Yitzhak Rabin's murder, trou-
bled by what has happened since, and anxious about
the future.
"Rabin has been in the center of Israel's history from
the beginning," she said. "He has done a great deal for
the country. What happened to him is a crime."
But she wonders at the violence taking place, insti-
gated by some of his alleged supporters, following the
prime minister's death. People, she said, are literally
being attacked in the street.
Jonathan Levi, formerly of Southfield, also lives in
Jerusalem where he, too, sees "a lot of bad blood between
certain parts of the population."
There has been a great deal of name-calling, he said.
"The left wing has been saying, 'If the right had sat qui-
et, Rabin never would have been murdered.' "
It isn't that the left believes the right is gloating over
the prime minister's death. They know grief is sincere,
Mr. Levi says. "But they still hold the right 'morally re-
sponsible.' "
American Jews may have the notion that the ma-
jority of Israelis are behind the peace plan as outlined
by Mr. Rabin, but this isn't the case, he said. "It's obvi-
ous the overwhelming majority has been against the
process — just recently 400,000, that's one-tenth of the
population, showed up at a rally urging Rabin not to
meet with Arafat."
Michael Neuvirth is a former resident of Farmington
Hills and member of Adat Shalom Synagogue. Today,
he lives in Jerusalem.
He and his wife were at home watching TV when the
assassination occurred. It was, he says, a tragedy no one
ever could have anticipated.
obert Aronson, executive
"To somebody who didn't know
Yet the climate was ripe for such an event in a nation
vice president of the Jew- his style, he could seem distant,"
Mr. Neuvirth describes as increasingly like "a police
ish Federation of Metro- Mr. Aronson said. So he dropped a
state."
politan Detroit, met with name that hit close to home.
"When a Jewish policeman can beat an old woman
Yitzhak Rabin during Michigan
"Mula Cohen sends greetings,"
(speaking out against Rabin), or when the left-wing
Miracle Missions to Israel in 1993 Mr. Aronson told Mr. Rabin.
and 1995.
bleeding hearts say it's all right to use gas against Jew-
The prime minister broke out
Last May, their encounter took into a smile and said, "Say hello to
ish protestors, it's not that hard to move to an assassi-
place during a high-energy gala at Mula for me." He paused. "And also
nation. It works both ways."
Ben-Gurion
Airport. Sitting next say hello to Menachem Ariv."
Mr. Neuvirth believes Mr. Rabin "would be alive to-
to Mr. Rabin at the dinner table,
The greetings were for two men
day had he listened, instead of completely ignoring 50
Mr. Aronson struggled to get the involved with "Partnership 2000,"
percent of Israel's citizens.
prime minister's attention. Like a program to unite Israeli and Di-
"Half of this country's population feels the whole peace
many, he found the former soldier aspora communities. Mr. Cohen is
process has been rushed," he said. The government has
shy, a bit reticent, but not impolite. head of the Jezreel Valley Region-
been "passing laws and giving up land. And what did
Two Names, One Smile
Robert Aronson sends and
delivers Rabin greetings.
R
al Council and served as Mr. Ra-
bin's military commander in 1948.
Mr. Ariv is mayor of Nazareth Il-
lit. Both visited Detroit earlier this
year to strengthen ties with their
American sister city.
"The prime minister believed in
world Jewry staying together," Mr.
Aronson says. "He wanted Ameri-
can Jewry to become more involved,
not to retreat behind their walls,
which is what we have a tenden-
cy to do." •
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