"OT BY MIGHT,
OR BY PON8 ER,
BUT BY MY SPIRIT.

The World

4

-4' ,4

over some imagined slight, but who

can always be mollified with a stroke
or two of his puffed-up ego.
OF METRO ', LITAN DETROIT
JEWISH
Well, nobody is laughing now. To
everyone's surprise, he really did it
PRIZE FOR
this time. By resigning and taking his
Gesher (Bridge) party out of the rul-
ing coalition, Levy put the Israeli
political order in play. He left Prime
AND
IN JEVH
Minister Binyamin Netanyahu with a
bare 61-vote majority in the Knesset,
which may not withstand the
upcoming second withdrawal from
the West Bank. Netanyahu's crazy-
This first annual award has been created to recognize outstanding cre-
quilt government has been teetering
ative achievement in Fine Arts, Humanities, Jewish Education and Conti-
almost since it was sworn in 1-1/2
nuity as a vital force in Jewish life. Consideration for awards are:
years ago.
"Levy comes out of this very
strongly," said public opinion poll-
ster Yossi Vedana, who noted that
Levy's resignation over the govern-
ment's budget, which contained little
aid for the poor, had restored his
standing as a champion of the have-
nots.
For more than a generation, Levy,
60, has been one of the most fasci-
nating and critical figures in Israel
Awards (a cash prize) will be given for overall excellence of a body of work
politics. More than anyone else, he
and the meaningfulness of its contribution to the quality and continuity of
cemented the Likud's covenant with
Jewish life in Michigan. In the category of organizations and institutions
the country's poor and working-class
no cash prize will be awarded. Instead, the winner in this category will re-
Sephardi masses, which has been the
ceive a certificate of recognition and will be acknowledged publicly at the
key to the party's power. Until a few
awards presentation ceremony in June of 1998. Individuals must reside in
years ago, he was considered indis-
Michigan. Organizations must be based in Michigan.
pensable to the Likud; if Levy left,
he would take the Sephardi voters
with him. In the 1990s, Levy opted
1 1 7)
o minations will be accepted no later than February 15, 1998.
for the prestige of the foreign minis-
To obtain a nomination packet,
tership. Because other Sephardi
contact The Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit,
politicians arose and Levy's electoral
Department of Community Outreach and Education
power waned, he has survived on
cunning.
Ever since his original patron,
Menachem Begin, retired from poli-
tics in 1983, Levy has fought a run-
ning war with his chief rivals for the
14
Likud leadership.
d 'rs, Politac %
-.°
When Yitzhak Shamir, appointed
Allied Jewish Campaign
Levy as foreign minister in 1990, he
also appointed Netanyahu, then a
This prize was made possible by a generous gift
fast-rising star in Israeli politics, as
from the Benard L.Maas Foundation.
Levy's deputy. These two colossal
egos were now office-mates, and the
arrangement lasted only a few
months.
When Levy's Likud faction was
second in power to the Shamir-
Arens-Netanyahu faction, Levy por-
trayed himself as the put-upon
You can't enjoy jewelry if it's sitting in your safe
Sephardi battling the scornful
deposit box. Sell or borrow on it for immediate
cash. We deal in jewelry, watches & gemstones.
Ashkenazi elite. When Shamir and
the Likud lost the national election
Ai. Service to Private
to Yitzhak Rabin and Labor later
that year, the Likud leadership
Owners, Banks & Estates
blamed the loss on Levy's "divisive-
Gem/Diamond Specialist
Fine Jewelers
ness."
Est. 1919
AWARDED CERTIFICATE BY GIA
IN GRADING & EVALUATION
Lawrence M. Allan, President
Daily 'Til 5:30
30400 Telegraph Rd. • Suite 134
Bingham Farms 642-5575
Sat. 'Til 3

thietienWIZt

Cattip

°fltalla

Arking Artists, Scholars and
Educators making a unique
contribution to Jewish Continuity

_____roducing Organizations
and Institutions

(248) 642-4260

1-1 3 %-

If you are not wearing it...
sell it!...
or BORROW on it!

1/9
1998

32

But the biggest explosion came in
the 1993 Likud primaries. Somebody
called up Sara Netanyahu at home
one night and claimed to have a
videocassette of Netanyahu at play
with his mistress, and that unless
Netanyahu dropped out of the race,
the cassette would be made public.
In response, Netanyahu went on tele-
vision, admitted having had the
affair and charged that he was being
blackmailed by "a senior Likud figure
surrounded by a gang of criminals."
He never named Levy, but the whole
country immediately assumed that
he meant Levy; Netanyahu said
nothing to dispel this assumption.

Late in his
career, Levy
finds a new role:
the spoiler.

At Netanyahu's request, a police

investigation was launched. A few
months later the police closed the
case, saying they had found no crime
and no criminal. But by this time,
Netanyahu had already defeated Levy
handily in the Likud primary.
On the surface, the breach was
healed on the eve of the 1996 elec-
tion when Netanyahu, determined tc
run head-to-head against Shimon
Peres for prime minister, got Levy to
withdraw from the race in return for
a promise of the foreign minister's
post.
Netanyahu made good on his
promise, but it has been an appoint-
ment in title only. Netanyahu has
made sure that all the important
contacts with the Palestinians, Egypt_
and Jordan are made by his trusted
advisers. The Clinton administration
may appreciate Levy as a moderate
counterweight, but it knows that
Levy's word does not have the prime
minister's backing.
He has not announced his plans,
but it is assumed that he will work to
bring down the Netanyahu govern-
ment.
There is virtually no chance that
Levy will ever fulfill his dream of
becoming prime minister. But now,
late in his career, Levy seems to have
found a role for himself at which he is
enormously successful: the spoiler. El