oints of view >> Send letters to: letters@thejewishnews.com Editorial U.S.-Israel Cut Deal, But Iran Still Haunts T he rift between Israel and America has seldom been wider, but that didn't stop Vice President Joe Biden from pledging the best in U.S.- made fighter jets to the Jewish state. The pledge is notable in showing relations between the two countries can withstand unsettling political wrangling. Biden's pledge of a 2016 delivery of a fifth-generation stealth aircraft came in an address at the Israeli Embassy in Washington on April 23 — Yom HaAztmaut, Israeli Independence Day. The U.S. "will deliver to Israel the F-35 joint strike fighter, our finest, making Israel the only country in the Middle East with a fifth-generation aircraft:' Biden said. Israel bought 19 F-35s in 2010 for $2.75 billion. In February, it agreed to buy another 14 of the Lockheed Martin Corp. fighter jets for $3 billion. Biden's announcement doesn't diminish the chasm dividing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Barack Obama over Iran's nuclear develop- ment program. Netanyahu maintains that the P5+1 world powers trying to negotiate a deal with Iran should vanquish Iran's nuclear arms capacity. Obama maintains that limiting Iran's capacity to enrich uranium is a key first step to preventing the Islamic Republic from developing an atomic bomb. Obama popularized that phrase in responding to charges he has endangered Israel via some of his policies, which have been seen as too lenient toward proven Israeli enemies like Hamas and Tehran. Adding the new-gener- Asserting Support ation fighter jet to Israel's Obama no doubt directed air fleet gives foundation to Biden to make the fighter- Biden's pitch that America jet announcement to help continues "to discuss repair frayed American- what more must be done Israeli ties. While probably in the near term and the meant to assuage the ten- long term to continue to sion, it nonetheless dem- strengthen the ancestral onstrated the U.S. remains Jewish homeland so it can committed to Israel's quali- maintain that edge." Vice President Joe Biden tative air advantage over Likening weakened rela- Islamist enemies, whatever tions between Israel and their ilk. Biden pegged the America to a lovers' spat, amount of military assistance the Obama Biden assured that "Israel will never be administration, with Congress' approval, alone" in its determination to stand secure has given to Israel at $20 billion. and strong in the embattled Middle East. Standing under a large Israeli flag, according to the Times of Israel account, Standing Tougher Biden said: "We have Israel's back and you Biden foresees a June 30 nuclear deal can count on that?' between Iran and P5+1 bringing "the toughest transparency and verification requirement, providing the best possible check against a secret path to a bomb." If such a deal collapses, a U.S.-backed military response then would be a pos- sibility, he said. Israel believes the deal as proposed would put Iran on a slower, but still viable road to nuclear arms capability. Beyond Biden's rhetoric, the U.S. must show it has Israel's back by ratcheting up pressure on Iran to truly stop working in the shadows to establish such capabil- ity. P5+1 must seek a deal that's truly as stringent as possible to protect Israel and other potential targets while also allowing stricter sanctions at even the hint of Iran rebuffing the demands of the negotiating world partners: America, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany. A deal that effectively destroys Iran's pathway to an atomic bomb in the foreseeable future would give basis and resonance to Biden's acknowledgment to Israel that "we need you; the world needs you" — "sustained and vibrant and free." ❑ Guest Column From Buchenwald To Iraq, Via East Lansing A t the end of March, I attended a two-day retirement celebra- tion for Professor Ken Waltzer at Michigan State University, where he researched, taught and published for nearly 40 years. His range of expertise spanned urban policy, immigration and Jewish studies, focusing mostly on the latter toward the end of his career. I took his courses at James Madison College at MSU in the mid-1980s where he became a mentor and ultimately good friend. I took my 15-year-old daughter with me to the retire- ment celebration to show her the MSU campus, meet some of my old friends and professors, and give her a taste of college life. During his remarks at the Friday evening reception, Professor Waltzer mentioned the fulfillment he was able to receive from the many Holocaust survivors he met and whose stories he studied. He said he was always stunned by the remarkable achievements of so many survivors given the circumstances they were coming from 54 April 30 • 2015 — in some cases, the achievement being surviving and successfully pursuing the American dream. This event was particu- larly special, he said, because he had never had the opportunity to express that senti- ment personally to any of the survivors until that night. In attendance was Alex Muskovic, who made the trip up from Florida with his son, Steven, to celebrate his friend's retirement. In early 1944, at age 13, Alex Muskovic found himself in the infamous Nazi death camps of Auschwitz-Birkenau and Buchenwald during World War II. When a guard learned Alex's age, he was told that he should claim to be 16, no mat- ter what anyone said. At that time, 16 years of age was the minimum age allowable for forced labor. Those prisoners who were too young or too elderly to work were among the first to be exterminated. Once at the camp, Alex never again saw his mother or little brother. After the war, he was briefly reunited with his father, who died a short time later. The MSU men's basketball team hap- pened to be playing in the Sweet 16 that night in Syracuse, so my daughter and I went to the hotel bar to watch the game on TV. As circumstances had it, Mr. Muskovic and Steven walked in and took a high-top table adjacent to us. I recognized him from the reception and struck up a conversation. In his mid-80s, he was still remarkably engaging, conversational, warm and with- out an edge. He answered all our questions and agreed to be the subject of my daugh- ter's history project, which required her to interview someone who lived through a major historical event. We exchanged con- tact information. Then he turned his attention to us. Possibly because of our ethnic appearance or simply just out of curiosity, he asked about our heritage. When I told him that we are Iraqi Chaldeans and gave him a brief history, he perked up. Then, amaz- ingly, he said this: "You know what's going on over there [regarding ISIS-committed atrocities] is just like what happened to me:' (See sidebar on next page for a list of atrocities.) My heart thumped. That is an analogy that has not been made by anyone, includ- ing President Obama, European leaders or even members of the Chaldean American community — possibly because the scale and breadth of the horror of the Holocaust does not compare. But I don't believe that's the way Mr. Muskovic views it. When you're a little boy and you're stolen away from your mother and your family is killed, you don't under- stand scale and breadth. All you know is that your young heart is broken and your life will never be the same. So here comes a man who as a boy lived through the Holocaust, whose family was brutalized and shattered to pieces, who made it to America, built a life and started a family, who shows no bitterness or anger. He so very personally identifies with the Christian families in Iraq and Syria that are being torn asunder. His intuition tells him that history is repeating itself. One would think his intuition on such a matter would be prescient. One might also hope that others come to see it that way as well. ❑ Michael Sarafa is president of the Bank of Michigan and a co-publisher of the Chaldean News.