The Panic
Retreats

An Israeli soldier
delivers boxes of gas
masks to a distribution
shelter.

New gas masks and a
fresh dose of reality
lower Israel's national
blood pressure.

LARRY DERFNER

Israel Correspondent

. el Aviv — After being caught
up in a wave of initial panic,
the Israeli public seems to be
calming down a bit over the
possibility of an Iraqi missile
attack.
There has been a backlash against
panic. News stories about panic have
become redundant, boring and suspect,
and the media have been condemned
for whipping it up in the first place.
And there are only so many times
the Israeli public can get worried when
U.S. officials warn Saddam Hussein
yet again that "time is running out."
One development that clearly
calmed people was the opening of
dozens of additional gas mask distrib-
ution centers around the country.
Israelis no longer had to wait hours in
line, no longer got hot under the col-
lar and started shouting at each other,
and thus no longer provided such a
mediagenic display of frayed nerves —

T

imply a power equal to God. What
judaism does affirm is that each one
of us has within us the yetzer toy and
the yetzer ha'ra: good inclination and
evil inclination. Both are necessary
according to Jewish tradition — the
trick is to keep them in balance. In
spite of the fact that there is no evil
incarnate, there are within Jewish
history certain individuals and soci-
eties seen as paradigms of evil.
"If there is one lesson that we can
derive from Jewish history it is that
those individuals and organizations
have to be confronted and stopped.
Otherwise they keep coming back.
To me, Saddam Hussein is one of
those. I support the efforts to stop
him — ideally diplomatically but if
not he must be stopped [through
other means]."

i.e. "panic" — for TV cameras and
reporters.
Israel's leading print journalist,
Nahum Barnea of the Yediot Achronot
daily, noted that TV stations had
screened interviews with a woman
shrieking that she was leaving the
country, as well as shocking archival
footage of Saddam's gas attacks on a
Kurdish village. Barnea concluded:
"This was a cynical, twisted attempt
to make a big noise and high ratings
at the expense of the vital national
interest and the public's nerves....It
turns out that [Former Prime Minis-
ter Yitzhak] Rabin was right when he
said that had television been around
during the War of Independence, we
would have lost
the war."
Israeli government, military and
health authorities repeated their sooth-
ing messages relentlessly. They made
three major points: the chance of an
Iraqi attack on Israel was close to
none; the home front was as prepared

Rabbi Steven Weil
Young Israel of Oak Park
"You can't tolerate evil because that
only begets more evil. We have a
responsibility as Jews and Americans
to use whatever influence we have.
From an Israel point of view that
means being prepared and being ready
to strike and respond. Israel proved
that in 1981 when it destroyed the
Osirac nuclear reactor [which Hussein
was using to develop nuclear arms],
the whole UN condemned Israel, but
10 years later the world saw what this
guy was capable of
"You have to deal with evil on evil's
terms. That means force. Evil does not
know compassion, evil does not know
empathy and sympathy." 0

as possible for such
an attack; and even if
anthrax-loaded mis-
siles did land on
Israel, people would
be safe inside their
gas masks and sealed
rooms.
The first two
points were mostly
credible. But the
third was an insult to
the intelligence. "The gas mask [and
sealed room] provide a satisfactory
answer to chemical and biological
weapons," said Brig. Gen. Dr. Aryeh
Eldad, head of the Army Medical
Corps.
If this was so, why was America
preparing to go to war to destroy these
"weapons of mass destruction?" Why
worry so much about them if gas

Travelers United

Americans planning
trips to Israel are
undaunted.

RENA FULICk
Special to The Jewish News

Lila Abrams left this week for her
72nd trip to Israel, undaunted by
the Clinton Administration's threats
of an air strike against Iraq,
"It's not going to take place in the
next week or so, said the owner of
Abrams Travel in New York and
Maryland. And Saddam Hussein
said his target is not Israel this time
His target is the U.S., so it's not a
concern."
Joining the travel agent on her
Feb. 9 departure were 600 individu-
als from Baltimore, Chicago, Los
Angeles and Newark. Future trips to
Israel look equally promising.
"Right now, I'm having trouble
getting space for Passover, said
Abrams, who has been booking
Israeli tours since 1970. "Let me tell
you where I expect there will be a
significant difference. In late April
and May and June, groups will
probably slow down bookings as
they wait to see what happens."

.

.

masks and masking tape could neu-
tralize them?
There were also some avoidable
gaps in the home front's prepared-
ness. Retired Gen. Amram Mitzna, in
charge of the army's Planning Divi-
sion during the Gulf War and now
mayor of Haifa, said: "The main les-
son from the mistakes of the Gulf
War — that there must be coordina-
tion between all the relevant bodies,
the army, police, fire department,
Magen David Adorn [ambulance ser-
vice] and municipalities — has not
been learned to this day. They are all
still working separately."
Nevertheless, gas masks were being
distributed smoothly, with more on
the way, and the United States was
sending Israel large stocks of antidotes
to viruses like anthrax. Best of all,
Israel has a far superior arsenal of dirty
weaponry than Saddam has, and Sad-
dam knows it. Deterrence is Israel's
best protection.

Avy and Vered Lahav, owners of
Cleveland, Ohio-based Elite Tours
and Travel, are also sold out for trav-
el to Isriel for Passover,
"We haven't had much of a
decline in traffic," said Avy Lahav,
who has scheduled trips to Israel for
16 years. "Maybe its because of the
good prices. Prices are very attractive
now
As for cancellations, he said, "We
haven't even had one."
One thing the couple has noticed
is that current customers are not
first-timers, but repeat visitors.
"They are not scared by the threat,"
said Lahay.
For New York-based Hadassah,
the Women's Zionist Organization
of America, mission trips are an
ongoing activity. A group of 25 indi-
viduals left for the region on. Feb. 7,
and 300 members are scheduled to
embark on a 10-day tour in early
March.
Its important to send our mem-
bers to Israel," said Roberta Elliott,
Ha.dassah's director of public affairs
in New York. "First and foremost, it
shows our support for the country,
especially on our 50th anniversary as
a state, and it familiarizes our mem-
bers with projects Hadassah runs in
Israel."
Elliott is scheduled to begin a
press tour of Israel on Feb. 26. ❑

•

2/13
1998

43

