OPINION

Triumph Of Tractologues'

the "conversion law" controversy.
few years ago, U.S. Speaker
Don't be fooled. Despite these
of the House Newt Gin-
contrasting public responses, Newt
grich (R-Ga.) and I sat in
and Bibi have a great deal in com-
his Marietta, Ga., office.
mon — in ideology, in how they
We discussed why Jews don't vote
practice it (or don't), and in how
Republican, despite Newt's near rabid
American Jews react to them.
support of Israel. The former college
As with Newt, everyone I know
professor blew me away, as he does
who has met Bibi comes away
with most visitors, with his intellec-
impressed: We don't always agree on
tual reasoning, which delved into the
details, but the guy is smart, says it
'communitarian tradition" of the
well and seems genuinely
Jews.
sincere. Both, I add, are
It was a few days after the
political animals who
first 100 days of the much
arouse more passion from
ballyhooed 1995 Congress,
their detractors than their
and minutes after Newt had
supporters.
addressed a packed Conserva-
While a majority of
tive synagogue across the
American Jews seem united
street. The rabbi and his con-
in their dislike of the poli-
gregation are as known for
cies of both leaders, I'm
their liberal political stands as
grateful that they're
their devotion to Jewish life.
around. They sharpen the
The partisan crowd gave this
debate in challenging, yes,
NEIL RUBIN
new arch-enemy of the
intellectual ways — even
Senio r Editor
Democrats a hearty standing
though they both do a
ovation. As the person next
poor job in quashing the
to me said, "I don't agree with every-
frightening vitriol they can encour-
thing he does, but he says it great;
age. While never advocating violence
the guy's a genius."
themselves, they both have a tenden-
Contrast that to last November's
cy to placate or ignore extremists on
scene in Indianapolis. As the winter
their side of the spectrum.
wind swept across the outside down-
Many American Jews have knee-
town plazas, Israeli Prime Minister
jerk reactions to both — "a sad
Binyamin Netanyahu gave a much-
replacement for Rabin," "the most
anticipated address inside the Con-
dangerous politician in Washington."
vention Center to 3,000 American
But they should recognize both to be
and Israeli Jewish leaders. At best,
partisan warriors more in desire than
polite applause followed Bibi's danc-
practice; more than ideologues, Gin-
ing around the no-win scenario of
grich and Netanyahu are "practo-

A

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu

Also, Mr. Besser hints that a better
strategy for gaining Pollard's freedom
than Netanyahu used is one that is
"carried out discreetly, without a lot of
public fanfare." Unfortunately, the evi-
dence suggests otherwise.
When Yitzchak Rabin first and

11/6
1998

34 Detroit Jewish News

later Shimon Peres raised the subject
of granting Pollard clemency, Presi-
dent Clinton refused, though each
request was made privately and dis-
creetly. Indeed, had Shimon Peres suc-
ceeded in his effort to free Pollard in
1996, it is possible that he, and not
Netanyahu, would now be prime min-
ister, given the closeness of the '96
Israeli election for the post.
No one knows if Netanyahu's
handshake with Arafat will lead to
peace. Nor does one know how
many disappointments will need to
be overcome to achieve peace. Per-
haps there will be one too many. On
the other hand, President Clinton
has an opportunity to set a positive
tone as the process begins by setting
Pollard free.
Irving Warshawsky
West Bloomfield

U.S. Speaker of the House Newt Gin-
grich

logues." When reaching their full

goals aren't within grasp, both are
sharp enough to understand that pol-
itics truly is the art of compromise.
Devotion to pragmatism and formi-
dable political skill has enabled them
to survive repeated challenges. At the
same time, forcing opponents to play
off one another can be a prescription
for paralysis.
Newt engineered the so-called
Republican revolution, one that iron-
ically has brought as much "do-noth-
ingness" to Congress as anything else.
And Bibi, with his promise of "peace
with security," has wooed enough of
the Israeli center to stay in office.
Both masterfully deal with frac-
tious coalitions. Newt is about to face
a critical leadership challenge in Con-
gress; his Republicans are pushing
him to the far right, the one that he

practically invented. Sound familiar
to followers of Israeli politics?
I believe both leaders will survive
and maintain their posts. The main
reason: Revolutionaries can change or
radically alter governments; once in
power, they must govern. That means
courting the slightly indifferent cen-
ter, that mass of the electorate that
prefers being left alone over having
figurative — or in Israel's case literal
— turmoil in the streets.
There's one other thing shared by
these two: a deep devotion to a
democratic Israel. For all of Bibi's
political courting of Orthodox rab-
bis, he is avidly secular, more a fan
of Jewish history than theology. For
his part, Newt genuinely likes the
people of Israel, and loves the coun-
try's strategic location as the warm-
water military port needed for the
next confrontation with Russia or
Central Asia.
Of course, Bibi runs a _country
while Newt, who aspires to do so,
runs half of Congress. Perhaps he and
Bibi should sit down and chat about
the path to power and how to main-
tain it.
And I know just the place for that
talk: The proposed U.S. Embassy in
Jerusalem, a building both eagerly
support but know they'll never have
to deliver.
Love 'ern or hate 'ern, they're two
of the best politicians around. And
their obvious skills mean that we're
likely to keep seeing their faces in the
years to come. ❑

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