itorials Voter Should Israel support creation of a Palestinian state? Yes -* No Vote on JN Online www.detroitjewishnews.com Results from last week's poll (39 respondents): Whom do you favor in the Israeli elections? Ehud Barak — One Israel 46% Yitzhak Mordechai — Center 8% Binyamin Netanyahu — Likud 44% Other 3% Editorials and Letters to the Editor are posted and archived on JN Online: WWW. detroitjewishnews.corn VOTE Israel's Fateful Test IN FOCUS n Monday, Israeli citizens — Jews, Muslims and Christians — go to the polls to elect a prime minister and all 120 members of the Knesset. Polls, which have been wrong in past elections, show that Ehud Barak will replace Binvamin Netanyahu as prime minister. The prospect of not having to deal with Netanyahu and his recalcitrant coalition pri- vately pleases the Clinton administration and most European governments. But they all could be in for a rude shock. For starters, Netanyahu could pull out a last-minute vic- tory, as he did in 1996. And Barak — Israel's most decorated military man ever — might prove as reluctant to budge on key security issues as his predecessor. However, it is expected that Barak can assemble a coali- tion slightly less unwieldy, one that is left- of-center, versus the right-of-center one that toppled Netanyahu after he agreed to cede more land to the Palestinians this past November. From this side of the Atlantic, it seems the healthiest option is a national unity government that will enable Labor and Likud to focus on the country's massive economic and social challenges. But the bitterness of Israeli politics makes this unlikely. And that is exactly what makes no sense to an increasing number of American Jews, a group that wants to take pride and inspiration in Israel's accomplishments. So we urge whoever governs Israel next to 0 \ The Virtual take immediate and sustained focus on sooth- ing the nation's internal strife as well as culti- vating meaningful ties to Diaspora communi- ties. For example, the Israeli government should give renewed emphasis to the minister whose portfolio includes Diaspora relations. This should be backed up with funding of spe- cific initiatives — such as exchanges of college students — and be done in consultation with leading world Jewish bodies such as the federa- tions on this continent and counterparts around the world. We should never lose sight of the fact that, no matter who wins, Israel's government will again be the only fully functioning, democrati- cally elected one in the Middle East. The Palestinian Authority had a democratic elec- tion a few years ago to validate the foregone conclusion that Yasser Arafat would be its leader. Many other Arab nations stage thinly veiled "free elections." Whatever its weakness- es, the Israeli democracy is a far, far better model than the Palestinian one, with its execu- tions, internecine violence and steady human rights abuses. Whoever governs Israel next will continue to need the non-compromising support of U.S. Jews and their political action arms. We do not, and will not, give any Israeli govern- ment a blanket of approval for every action. However, we cannot, and will not, relinquish our passionate embrace of the hope that a free, democratic Jewish state promises. 1 1 Paying Their Respects Former Soviet Marine officer Leyzer Selektor of Southfield recalls Victory Day during a Russian Veterans Day celebration last Sunday at Charlotte Rothstein Park in Oak Park. Immi- grants from the former Soviet Union mark the end of World War II in Europe with a major celebration each year. LETTERS NATO Violence Not The Answer Torah's Promise havuot, a major holiday, marks Zman Matan Torateinu — "the Time of the Giving of Our Torah." Yet it's not nearly as popular as minor holidays that celebrate battles for religious freedom, like Purim and Chanukah. For that, we're all to blame. Torah represents the heartbeat of our faith — a beacon of hope, a symbol of pride, a source of strength. It's the spiritual soul that binds us as a people. We were given the Torah just once in Moses' time, on Shavuot. But every Jew in every generation receives the Torah when he or she studies. By accepting the Ten Commandments in the desert of Sinai 50 days after leaving Egypt 3,200 years ago, the Jews of Moses' time became a free and holy people. They promised to keep Torah and teach it to their children. Shavuot means "weeks," but comes from a root word that means "oath." This signifies the promise the Israelites at Mt. Sinai made to "do and obey" the Ten Commandments and accept Torah — not to be worshipped as an idol, but to be used as rules for everyday liv- ing. God points the way to a life of goodness, decency and humility; we live that life by fol.- lowing Torah. When we rise in shul at the reading of the Ten Commandments on Shavuot, we accept the Torah as our forbears did long ago — indi- vidually and as a people. And we reaffirm our partnership with God. Rabbis, educators, parents and journalists: we all can, we all must, do better at recounting the tale of Shavuot, really the birthday of the Jews, and explaining why we must never take for granted our five, most sacred books. By doing so, we will truly set an example to all the peoples of the world, so they, too, will respect, if not follow, these holy rules of con- duct. Li It is imperative that Jews everywhere take a closer look at the Kosovo crisis far beneath the claims of the U.S.-led NATO assault on the Serbians. Kosovo, a long-acknowl- edged part of Serbia, had been opened to Albanian immigrants for the past 10 years. Albania sent a group called the KLA to conduct LETTERS ON PAGE 33 NATO airstrikes destroyed a bridge over the Danube in the city of Novi Sad, north. west of Belgrade as part of the campaign to force Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic to accept a western peace deal for Kosovo. 5/14 1999 Detroit Jewish News 31