VIEWPOINT/RESPONSE

Why Invite Ambassador Indyk?

W

hat a delicious
don't want to be in a war to
phrase — "cogni-
defend their own country. In
tive dissonance"
the United States, they would
as presented by
be either tried for treason or
Professor Gerald M. Steinberg
thrown out of the army under
of Bar-Ilan University in Haifa
the too kind designation of
(Other Views, "Fit The •
"conscientious objector."
Prejudice," Feb. 8, page 28).
Sedan also presents as opposi-
JERO ME S.
According to Professor
tion, well known, far left Knesset
Steinberg, "cognitive disso-
KAUF MAN speaker Avraham Burg, who was
nance" comes into play with
defeated for the leadership of the
Vie w point
people "clinging to explana-
Labor Party by Defense Minister
tions and conceptions long
Benjamin Ben-Eliezer. Sedan
after these structures have lost coher-
also lists Dalia Rabin-Pelossof, former
ence" — when "information is filtered
Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin's daughter,
in a manner designed to fit a pre-con-
who Sedan misrepresents as "the heart of
ception to avoid contradictions that
the military establishment" when she is
would weaken this framework." Wow!
not even a blip on the military horizon.
For those of us less eloquent, I
Sedan then struts but Yossi Sarid as
believe it simply means, "Don't con-
opposition party leader." But he neg-
fuse me with the facts."
lects to mention that Sarid's discredit-
The Jewish Telegraphic Agency
ed Meretz party now consists of 10
(JTA), ubiquitous left-wing news
Knesset members hung over from last
source, and Gil Sedan, one of its
year's election and that the party
reporters, now become understandable
would garner, perhaps, five votes in
as they give us, to my mind, their own
any newly elected Knesset.
"cognitive dissonance" interpretation of
With that as the "opposition party"
the news from Israel. Sedan describes
along with the other luminaries listed
mounting criticism of Israeli Prime
above, Prime Minister Sharon is, in
Minister Ariel Sharon's policies attempt-
fact, in marvelous political shape. A
ing to control Palestinian Authority
Gallup poll in Israel published Jan. 29
leader Yasser Arafat and the awful ter-
found 76 percent of the Israeli public
rorism daily suffered by the Israelis.
thinks Oslo is no longer valid.
. What is this source of mounting
So Sedan is correct: There is some
criticism? Sedan starts with 50 dis-
mounting opposition to Sharon's treat-
gruntled reserve soldiers who have an
ment of Argiat. But what is the source?
obvious political agenda and simply
Do these people, in fact, now represent
any significant part of the Israeli elec-
torate, or are they just a few die-hard,
Jerome S. Kaufman is a Bloomfield
far-left wingers suffering from Professor
Hills resident. His e mail address is
Steinberg's
"cognitive dissonance?"
jkaufman253469M1@comcast.net

((

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Examine Indyk's Record

And what about our local luminaries
— the leaders of the Jewish Federation
of Metropolitan Detroit and its public
affairs voice, the Jewish Community
Council. Who have they invited to
speak before us March 7? Former U.S.
Ambassador to Israel Martin Indyk!
Are they aware of Indyk's record?
Yes, according to the invitation, he
did choreograph the handshake
between Rabin and Arafat. Is this now
supposed to be some sort of plus?
What else is on Indyk's record?
Well, he has served with five different
Israeli prime minis-
ters, both Labor and
Likud, and he has
been good enough to
show no favoritism.
Regardless of the
Israeli party in power
he has managed, most
frequently, to take the
Arab side in most dis-
putes.
Martin Indyk
As listed by Mort
Klein, president of the Zionist
Organization of America, in a news
release, Sept. 14, 1999, Indyk:
• Snubbed Prime Minister Yitzhak
Rabin in 1995 and deliberately did
not attend the opening of Jerusalem's
3000-year celebration for fear of
insulting Arab sensitivities.
• Pressured Prime Minister Shimon
Peres and publicly demanded he
make very serious compromises" in
negotiations with the PA and, at the
same time, praised Nayef Hawatmeh,

terrorist leader of the Democratic
Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
• Demanded that Prime Minister
Binyamin Netanyahu make still
greater concessions on the giveaway of
Hebron to the Arabs in 1996.
• Pressured Netanyahu to close the
archeological tunnel in Jerusalem in
1996, Arafat's excuse, at the time, to
riot and kill Israelis.
• Publicly compared peaceful Israeli
housing construction to Arab terror-
ism and ignored the 10-fold greater
illegal Arab construction still going on
all over Israel.
• Consistently interfered with Israeli
internal government affairs and was
reminded by MK Uzi Landau that he
was not "the British High
Commissioner."
• Had working for him within the
State Department, John Zogby, son of
James Zogby, pre-eminent Arab pro-
pagandist in the United States. Indyk
has also been a welcome, sympathetic
guest on Zogby's Sunday TV program.
Evidently, our own local leadership,
like the JTA, is also still enamored
with those that were at the very fore-
front of this "peace process."
Evidently, they believe that the 76
percent of the Israelis that have given
up on the Olso Accords are in error.
Perhaps they continue to believe that
Indyk, Dennis Ross, Bill Clinton,
Madeleine Albright, Aaron Miller and
all the other architects of this tragedy
are, in fact, our conquering heroes.
Well, at least, thanks to Professor
Steinberg, we now understand the phe-
nomenon of "cognitive dissonance."

2,000 contributors to the
Federation's Annual Campaign,
While we expect the viewpoint of
Ambassador Indyk to be enlighten-
ing, we also necessarily expect that it
will be different from that of Prime
Minister Netanyahu.
Serving twice as ambassador to Israel,
the first Jew to be posted there by the
State Department, Ambassador Indyk
gained the respect of both Israelis and
Palestinians during his service. His
terms were not without controversy,
though. Sometimes in active diploma-
cy, controversy cannot be avoided.
History will be the final judge of his
actions, and whether they, indeed, help
bring closer an end to the Israeli-
-
Palestinian conflict. There is no doubt,
though, that throughout his career, he
has been a true friend of Israel.
Ambassador Indyk's academic cre-

dentials include serving as the
founding director of the Washington
Institute for Near East Policy, a pre-
mier think tank in the nation's capi-
tal. He also has been an adjunct pro-
fessor at Johns Hopkins University
in Baltimore. Currently, Ambassador
Indyk is a senior fellow at the
Brookings Institution.
In his career, Ambassador Indyk
has served as assistant secretary of
state for Near East Affairs and on
the staff of the National Security
Council. He has been a special assis-
tant to the president.
An insight into the ambassador's
current views, which we look for-
ward to hearing on March 7, can be
found in the January-February issue
of the journal Foreign Affairs.
Therein, he challenges the Arab
regimes to end their media's anti-

"

❑

This Is Why

mbassador
Council's Israel
Martin
Solidarity Initiative.
Indyk will
Raising awareness to
speak at
the crisis in Israel, and
Temple Shir Shalom
the need for an
on March 7 as part of
American Jewish
a continuing effort to
response to that crisis,
raise the awareness in
has been one of the
our Jewish communi-
main goals of the ini-
LARRY
ANN
ty to key issues and
JACKIER ZOUSMER tiative, which we chair.
events affecting Israel.
Awareness to the
Res ponse
His appearance is co-
crisis in Israel was
sponsored by the
also the goal of two
Jewish Federation of Metropolitan
solidarity missions that included
Detroit and the Jewish Community
Detroiters and others from out-state
Michigan this past September and
Larry Jackier is president of the Jewish
December, and for a mission which
Federation of Metropolitan Detroit.
will leave in May. And it was the
Ann Zousmer is president of the Jewish
goal of bringing former Israeli Prime
Community Council of Metropolitan
Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to
Detroit. Both agencies are based in
Detroit in December. Netanyahu
Bloomfield Township.
spoke before an audience of some

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