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Visiting Israeli reminds us not to forget the Israeli MIAs and POWs.

DON COHEN
Special to the Jewish News

T

he man was on vacation, but he wanted to talk
about Israeli policy and politics.
Yaacov Abramovitch, 29, of B'nei B'rak spoke
about the current situation in Israel, the
prospects for peace and about Israeli MIAs and POWs fol-
lowing Shabbat services March 23 at Sara Tugman Bais
Chabad Torah Center in West Bloomfield.
Abramovitch, a legislative aide to Member of Knesset
Yuval Steinitz, is spending his Passover break in the United
States visiting friends. His host here was Israel activist
Jerome S. Kaufman of Bloomfield Hills.
Abramovitch first mixed policy with politics in 1998,
when an international think-tank brought him to the United
States to learn about the United States political system.
Analyzing Middle East issues for U.S. Rep. Matt Salmon, R-
Ariz., his appreciation of politics grew.
"I learned that if you want to help and form policies, you
have to be part of the system. When I returned to Israel, I
wanted to help someone I knew," Abramovitch explained.
He went to work for Steinitz, a Likud Party member who
chairs the subcommittee on defense planning and policy,
and helped with Ariel Sharon's campaign for prime minister.
Abramovitch explains what Israel is up against by talking
about his reserve duty. "I want to do it the best I can," he
said, "but I want to come back alive. Let us not be naive; if
you are naive in the Middle East it doesn't matter whether
you are at a checkpoint or are the prime minister, this is no
place to be naive. It is the place to play hardball. Being
naive is not an option."
Abramovitch is especially committed to the return of
Israeli POWs and MIAs.
"In Israel, each person has a name, a face and a family.
We see their pictures and read about their lives. There is a
daily awareness on these issues," he said.
He has been actively involved on behalf of Ron Arad, an
Israeli flight navigator shot down and captured in Lebanon
in 1986.
"We are still waiting for him. We.still don't know where
he is," he said. "A few months ago, we learned of Israeli

Cap_4

elcome back from
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only have two more weeks to
submit their information for
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Arabs who had been held in underground bunkers in Syria
for 14 or 15 years. Who else is down there? No one knows."
While Germany has been very helpful — even appoint-
ing a special minister to assist on finding and returning
Israeli POWs and MIAs — Abramovitch bemoans the role
of the United Nations.
"The UN is playing a game. They didn't want to show us
the video or let us examine the car" when three Israeli sol-
diers — Adi Avitan, Binyamin Avraham and Omar Souad
— were ambushed and kidnapped on the Israeli side of the
border with Lebanon in October 2000. Like with Arad,
there has been no news since their capture.
"The UN soldiers viewed the whole scene, it was under
the eyes of their checkpoint, but they didn't inform any-
one, they just laid low," he said.
While outraged, he understands UN Secretary General
Kofi Annan's problem. "His first responsibility is for his
people in South Lebanon, not for Israel. Hezbollah has
more power there than the UN. I don't see benefits for
Israel of the UN forces there."
Abramovitch urges American Jews to take action for
Israel. "Educate your elected officials. I learned, working in
a congressional office, that each letter from a constituent is
treated with great respect. Tell them a personal story or
about a friend or relative in Israel. Create a relationship."
He would be happy to welcome visitors to Israel, but
doesn't push anyone to come right now.
"Life continues. Israelis are living. We keep on working,
we go to school and we visit cafes. People will greet you,
welcome you, but it should be of your own volition. Do it
whenever you feel it is best."
Abramovitch's commitment to Israel goes back generations.
"My grandfather fought in the 1948 War of Independence.
My father fought in 1967 and 1973. It is my generation's
turn to chip in," he explains with resolve. "Israel will survive
this challenge. Our home is in Israel."

❑

For more information on Israeli MIAs and POWs,
visit the International Coalition for Missing Israeli
Soldiers at www.mia.org.il or the American Zionist
Movement at vvvvw.azm.org/MIA/index.html

19

the May 10 Jewish News.
We have changed the rules
from previous years. We will
honor all Michigan Jewish sen-
iors who have a 4-year cumula-
tive grade point average of
3.60 or higher on 'a 4.0 scale
(or 4.0 and higher for schools
using 4.5 as their top grade).

To be included in our Cap &
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and click on the Cap & Gown
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Alan Hitsky, associate editor.

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Rabbi E.B. "Bunny" Freedman,
after 12 years as executive director
of Southfield-based Yeshiva Beth
Yehudah, leaves..
The Federation of
Reconstructionist Congregations
states that homosexual couples have
as much right to committed, sanc- .
tioned relationships as heterosexuals.

982
Detroiters Sidney Freedland,
Richard Maddin and Sam Rich are
among 120 men and women recog-
nized by the Jewish Welfare Board
for their work with local federations
and community centers.
Shirley L. Fink of Bloomfield
Hills is elected the 20th president
of Temple Israel, the first woman to
hold that position.

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Both Christian and Jewish leaders
condemn anti-Israel sermons deliv-
ered by three Washington, D.C.
clergymen on Palm Sunday.
A bill amending the Civil Rights
Act of 1964' to provide protection
to Sabbath observers was signed by
President Nixon.

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•

New Yorker Dr. Abram Kanof was
re-elected president of the
American Jewish Historical Society
on its 70th anniversary.
Orthodox synagogues in metro-
politan Detroit this Sabbath wel-
come a delegation of four represen-
tatives from the central office of -
the Lubavitcher movement in
Brooklyn.
Congregation Beth Jacob
announces the opening of a tempo-
rary branch in Detroit on Hubbell,
south of Eight Mile.

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Israel's Foreign Minister Moshe
Sharett meets with Pope Pius, the
first time a member of the Israeli
government has met with the pope.

— Compiled by Holly Teasdle,
archivist, the Rabbi Leo M Franklin
Archives at Temple Beth El

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4/5

2002

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