Judge Israel Redlined Insurance firm urges Israel travelers seeking coverage to lobby the State Department. ROBERT A. SKLAR Editor. A Southfield life insurance compa- ny that markets to the Detroit Jewish community reports it can't get coverage for people with sched- uled plans to travel to Israel primarily because the State Department has declared Israel travel a high risk for U.S. citizens. It urges travelers to push the State Department to remove Israel from its advisory list. The list includes the entire Middle East as well as part of Africa and South America. The inclusion of Israel on this list helps choke off the tourism industry, both Jewish and non-Jewish, so vital to the Israeli economy and does not reflect the actual danger to Americans who are not traveling to Gaza or the West Bank, said Robert M. Heinrich, vice president of the Schechter Financial Group. He said Schechter is "distressed to hear assertions that do not accurately reflect reality or go further to assert that the life insurance industry is anti- Semitic." He said it has never had cover- age denied by any major carrier on the basis of past travel to Israel, including coverage on former Israeli residents now living here. "The vast majority of coverage we have written the past 12 months," he said, "has been for people who have been to Israel." He said the industry includes many Jewish executives.who support Israel, but who evenhandedly apply rules against • insuring people who travel to areas sin- gled out by the. State Department. "This failure of the State Department to acknowledge the extraordinary meas- ures taken by the Israelis to ensure the safety of tourists, as the members of our community who participated on Federation's Michigan Miracle Mission 4 can attest, is an unnecessary burden on Israel," Heinrich said. Last week, the Jewish Telegraphic Ag ency reported that Allstate reversed its decision to deny life insurance to travel- ers to Israel and Palestinian areas. Allstate was one of several U.S. insur- ance companies that denied insurance to those who had traveled or planned on traveling to Israel. "Allstate is committed to protecting customers who choose or need to travel to Israel, the West Bank or Gaza for work or to be with family," Casey Sylla, Allstate's chairman and president, told JTA. "Upon further review, we decided the benefits to our customers outweigh the risks." Allstate's move comes as political pres- sure is building on the insurance indus- try to halt the practice. Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill., lauded the insurer's decision, but said other companies' policies made it necessary to pass legislation on the issue. "Allstate's decision is a good first step, but we need to make sure that all insur- ance companies stop discriminating based on either past or future travel," Emanuel told JTA. A member of the House Financial Services Committee that oversees insur- ance practices, Emanuel drafted a bill this spring to stop the Israel travel restriction. Emanuel's bill remains before the Financial Services and Energy and Commerce committees during the con- gressional summer recess. An aide said the bill has won 22 co-sponsors so far. Under the bill, insurance companies would not be allowed to deny life insur- ance or change the rates on existing poli- cies to people who visited Israel. It does not cover those planning to go because that would be "too hard to legislate," the aide said. L Corrections • The quotes in "Alyn Honors Tappers" (July 2, page 12) should have been attributed to. Steven Tapper's daughters, Julia and Shayna Rose. • ■ The dates for Dora the Explorer at Detroit's Fox Theatre were incor- rect in the July issue of Platinum ((COut On The Town," page 7). The correct dates are July 28-Aug. 1. Phyllis McMillen For Oakland Circuit Court Primary Vote August 3, 2004 Highest Rating ... "OUTSTANDING" - Oakland County Bar Association . "Elect Experience" Mark Your Ballot McMillen! "Of the four candidates running for Circuit Court Judge, ONLY ONE is ALREADY a JUDGE - District Court Judge Phyllis McMillen, with 10 years of experience on the bench, including 6 years as Chief Judge, and over 17 years of experience as an attorney/in private practice. The Oakland County bench, especially the Family Division, will be well served by a seasoned professional." - Hon. Nancy T. Carniak President, Oakland County District Judges Association Please join us in voting for Judge Phyllis McMillen! Denise Alexander, Esq. Hon. Michael Batchik Judith Blumeno, Esq. Hon. Robert Bondy Ronald Bookholder, Esq. Barry Brickner, Esq. Hon. Dennis Drury Laura Eisenberg, Esq. Robert Feldstein, Esq. Hon. Michelle Friedman Appel Frank Gettleson, Esq. Edward Gold, Esq. Lorne Gold, Esq. Gerald A. Gordinier, Esq. Henry Gornbein, Esq. Hon. Tina Brooks Green, Pres. Michigan District Judges Assoc. Jon and Sandra Green, Esqs. Hanley Gurwin, Esq. Harvey Hauer, Esq. Richard Herman, Esq. •Albert Holtz, Esq. Hon. Barry Howard Hon. Sheila Johnson Julie A. Nelson-Klein, Esq. Loraine Kuhn, Esq. Jeffrey Leib, Esq. Hon. Brian MacKenzie Susan E. Paletz, Esq. Anne Cole-Pierce, Esq. H. Wallace Parker, Esq. Counsel, NAACP Hon. Marla Parker Hon. Dennis Powers Michael Robbins, Esq. Harriet Rotter, Esq. Hon. Gene Schnelz Kurt Schnelz, Esq. Mark Sherbow, Esq. Hon. Sara Smolenski, Pres. Michigan Judicial Conference Janice Tracht, ACSW, BCD Richard Victor, Esq. Howard Weiner, Esq. . For additional endorsements and information, visit our website at: www.mcmillen2004.com 7/ 9 2004 Paid for by Citizens for Judge Phyllis McMillen 860130 23