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4 THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE July 28, 1*71
[ Tile S»itfceri Israelite
The Weekly Newspaper for Southern Jewry
Our 54th Year
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American Jewish Preee Aran , Georgia Press Aaan . National Newspaper Aten
‘Something for nothing’
Israel's Prime Minister Menachem Begin was obviously
distraught as he stood outside the Knesset last week and talked
with reporters. Asked about Anwar Sadat’s request that Israel
return a strip of the Sinai together with El-Arish as a “goodwill
gesture," he was ready with an answer.
“Nobody can get something for nothing,” he said.
Perhaps Begin could have been more diplomatic Perhaps he
could follow advice that he be more “public relations minded.”
But he is a man of candor and responded in his usual manner—
directly. We can picture Harry Truman making the same sort of
reply. Perhaps he might have chosen the even more direct
Americanism, “There is no such thing as a free lunch.”
We sympathize with Israel's attempts to enter into peace
negotiations with the Arab world. Has there ever been a crazier
situation?
Israel was victorious in the wars in which she “acquired” the
territories in question and yet the Arabs (and, we suspect, the
United States) would like her to give away captured land before
negotiations begin.
Even granting that Begin’s public relations image is not what it
should be, he has certainly expressed his willingness, over and
over, to sit down and discuss anything. He has repeatedly
indicated that “everything is negotiable.”
Why is it that Sadat expects Israel to give up negotiating points
in advance?
There can only be one reason: Sadat hopes that sooner or later
the United States will successsfully pressure Israel tojeopardize its
security by giving up key territory before negotiations even begin.
Everyone wants peace and serenity in the Middle East but
remember that Israel and Begin have been down this road before.
They have learned that giving up territory without meaningful
compromises and peace treaties is a fruitless exercise. And
dangerous too.
Part of the immediate danger is that many Israeli supporters in
the United States—and in Israel, for that matter—are becoming
impatient. One senses a movement to accept “peace at any price.”
This impatience is reflected in criticism of Prime Minister Begin
as being “insensitive” and “intransigent.”
He may well be a shade too direct, a bit too gruff but
Chamberlain learned at Munich and we learned in Vietnam that
peace is not easily bought. And certainly not achieved by
weakness.
Begin is a student of Israeli history and has correctly perceived
that “nobody can get something for nothing.”
Now let’s give him a chance to prove it.
J.G.
Jack Redaction
A Jewish president
The time is January 1989 and the setting is the
White House. The newly inaugurated President of the
United States sits down with his family for a
traditional Sabbath meal. He
recites a fluent Kiddush and makes
the motzi. He smiles benignly at his
family around the table. Sabbath
candles glow warmly in the
comfortable elegance of the family
dining room.
“A good Shabbat to everyone,”
the President says as steaming
bowls of matzo-ball soup are
placed before them.
A fable? An impossible dream? Maybe not.
A recent novel, “The Wanting of Levine," by
Michael Halberstam, makes the prospect seem
eminently plausible. According to Halberstam, the
political environment in the United States by 1988
may well dictate the necessity for a Jewish president—
bringing to the office a tenacity, intuitive intelligence
and combative will to win that A.L. Levine, hero of
the novel, possesses.
In the novel Levine takes on all comers: anti-
Semites, a jaded press, sceptical blacks and a country
no longer sure what it wants in a president. This is all
entertaining reading and thought provoking. It
raises the question secretly asked for years: is America
ready for a mensch in the White House?
I think the answer is yet.
But it won’t be easy. A Jewish candidate will have to
overcome problems of latent anti-Semitism and the
unspoken fear that a Jew in the White House will be
an extension of Israel. He will also have to be a saint in
his private life and possess the endurance of a long
distance runner.
But it can be done. Let’s face it—no barrier is too
great for a politician zeroing in on the presidency. Add
to this the eternal optimism of Jews and we can begin
to think about who will run.
Why not Senator Richard Stone of Florida who has
political “sex appeal” and a sense of integrity that
would attract a broad cross-section of voters? And
what would be wrong with our own Congressman
Elliott Levitas? He is a Rhodes scholar and a man of
relentless determination.
Presidential advisor Stuart Eizenstat is a
possibility. He is bright and has the ascetically lean
appearance that would appeal to the mother instinct
of female voters. By 1988 he will certainly have had
enough years under pressure to steel him for the
campaign.
Another Carterite with a chance is Robert Strauss,
who advises the President on almost every topic If he
is actually able to curb inflation and browbeat
Congress into passing an effective energy bill he will
not only be a magician but would have demonstrated
his unquestioned credentials for the job.
New York's Mayor Koch and Robert Lipshutz.
counsel to the President, are dark-horses but should
not be counted out They have extremely difficult jobs
that invite dispute and rancor but they could survive
and join the race.
It is too late for some. Senators Javits, Ribicoff and
Metzenbaum will be too old and, in any case, they do
not really have the “pizazz” required to overcome the
obstacles of being a Jewish candidate.
There are, of course, many others—such as Rabbi
Schindler, Paul Newman and Sol Linowitz—all of
whom would have to be unlikely choices.
But maybe, just maybe, the Jewish candidate will be
someone whom we have not yet heard from. Perhaps
some young, bright Jewish student in college who is
not cowed by any “tradition” that a Jew cannot win
the Highest Job in the Land.
Weren’t we always taught that a great attribute of
our democracy is that every schoolchild can dream
about being President of the United States?
Why shouldn't they dream in Hebrew School as
well?
Northwestern in trouble
over Begin’s doctorate
by Joseph Aaron
The Sentinel
When Menachem Begin -talks,
people listen. And react.
Well, it has been more than two
months since Menachem Begin
talked to a crowded McGaw Hall
in quaint little Evanston. But the
reactions go on.
Begin talked, you recall, after
receiving an honorary doctor of
law degree from Northwestern
University.
The decision to award that
degree created a tremendous
amount of controversy, and was
seen by many as an attempt by the
university to placate Jewish
contributors alienated by the
Arthur Butz “Nazis were really
nice guys" affair.
That seeming attempt led to
protests by numerous groups,
hostile advertisements in the
student newspaper, marches,
anger, and bitterness.
And now, two months later, to a
broken contract.
For last week, the government
of Saudi Arabia reacted to the
Begin degree by cancelling a SI.5
million contract it had with
Northwestern.
The contract, which was with
the university’s traffic institute
called for Northwestern to train 50
Saudi Arabian students in police
administration and traffic control.
But now Saudi Arabia says they
don’t need those 50 traffic
specialists, and so Northwestern
won’t get the $1.5 million.
And while a lost SI.5 million will
mean little when compared to the
university’s total budget of ipore
than SI00 million, it is a significant
loss for the traffic institute. For
that SI.5 million represented 58
percent of the traffic institute's
income. In addition. Northwestern
just spent almost $2 million
constructing a new traffic institute
building to handle the formerly
expected load of Saudi students.
But now Saudi Arabia says all
that is just too bad. In a telegram
sent to Northwestern vice
president of research, Dr. David
Mintzer, the Saudis did not say the
Begin award caused them to cancel
the contract. They, in fact, gave no
reason for the contract’s
cancellation, and the Saudi
Arabian educational attache in
Houston refused to comment on
the cancellation.
But Jack O’Dowd, North-
western's public relations director,
said that about four weeks ago
Northwestern’s Saudi Arabian
contacts indicated in a telephone
conversation with Gerald
O'Connell, acting traffic inst lute
director, that the contract was
being canceled in part to protest
the awarding of the degree to
Begin.
The unfortunate part of this
whole business is that this may not
be an isolated incident. It, in fact,
only serves to highlight the
increasing, and increasingly
dangerous, trend of foreign
governments, especially Middle
Eastern governments, to contract
for the education of their students
at American universities.
, It is a trend, many feel, that
could lead to foreign interference
in the internal policy of
universities.
They point, for example, to the
fact that Georgetown University in
Washington, D.C., recently
awarded an honorary degree to the
Shah of Iran. Georgetown also
recently received an Sll million
grant from the government of Iran.
Likewise Pepperdine Univers
ity, which recently awarded the
Shah with an honorary doctor of
law degree. And recently received a
SI million grant.
Likewise Harvard, Princeton,
George Washington, and many
others. And, until now, likewise
Northwestern.
In all, that’s a lot of millions of
dollars being spread around.
Millions of dollars, universities in
these troubled times, desperately
need. And millions of dollars
Middle Eastern governments are
only too happy to give. Providing,
that is, they are not offended.
Northwestern, it seems,
offended Saudi Arabia. And so it
lost SI.5 million.
Which may mean next time it, or
some other university, will think
twice before awarding an honorary
degree to an Israeli prime minister.
And that is a development that
should probably make us all think
twice.
