Newspaper Page Text
e Southern Israelite
The Weekly Newspaper For Southern Jewry •
Since 1925
Atlanta, Georgia, Friday, September 6, 1985
No. 36
Israel opposes expected U.S. arms sales
Modai, Peres, Rabin plan Washington trips
by Wolf Blitzer
WASHINGTON—Israel has a-
gain urged the Reagan administra
tion not to submit any major new
arms sale to Jordan and Saudi
Arabia.
Ambassador Meir Rosenne went
to the State Department last week
to question Assistant Secretary for
Near Eastern and South Asian
Affairs Richard Murphy about sev
eral recent news reports predicting
such a sale in September. But Mur
phy, according to Israeli sources,
insisted that no final administra
tion decisions have yet been made.
Rosenne, who had sought the
meeting with the assistant secre
tary, reiterated the long-standing
Israeli opposition to any U.S. arms
sales to countries still in a state of
war with Israel. This would include
both Jordan and Saudi Arabia.
The administration is still study
ing the outcome of Murphy’s latest
talks in the Middle East before
deciding on a future course of
action. Those internal consultations
are expected to continue for sev
eral more days.
Meir Rosenne
Israeli officials said Murphy had
made clear to Rosenne that Jor
dan’s King Hussein was still insist
ing that some form of an “interna
tional umbrella” follow a prelimi
nary U.S. meeting with a joint
Jordanian-Palestinian delegation.
The U.S., on the other hand, wants
direct Arab-Israeli negotiations to
follow such a session.
That standoff, U.S. officials said,
was largely behind the refusal of
Murphy to meet with the joint
delegation in Amman, Jordan, ear
lier in August during his visit to the
Yitzhak Modai
Middle East.
U.S. officials have not ruled out
a meeting with the joint delegation,
but they have maintained that they
need stronger assurances from Hus
sein that direct talks will follow.
The State Department, thus, insist
ed that the U.S. will continue to
pursue the Arab-Israeli peace pro
A dream come true
by Lili Eylon
World Zionist Press Service
Once upon a time (not so long
ago) a man had a dream. He
dreamed of a beautiful edifice which
would house the artistic feats of his
people as well as the creations of
others. He wanted a repository
which would be a fitting showplace
for an old people, who. someone
once remarked, “possesses too much
history and not enough geography.”
And because that man happened
to be persistent, hard-working Ted
dy Kollek. undoubtedly the world’s
best-known mayor, and because
the edifice he dreamed of was to be
in his beloved Jerusalem, his dream
came true.
The Israel Museum, a series of
low, modern interconnected pavil
ions crowning a hill above the Val
ley of the Cross, is celebrating its
20th birthday this year.
Through the years it has become
a place of pilgrimage not only for a
never-ending stream of tourists,
but also for Israelis from all over
the country. Unique in its collec
tion. which makes the bible come
alive, serving a population much
of which had never seen a museum,
it is a young, burgeoning institu
tion. buzzing with activity, ever on
the move, ever bringing new eye
openers to its public. It particu
larly prides itself on the fact that
one-third of its membership are
children. “It is for the sake of
young Israelis who are not able to
travel abroad that we must also
show the heritage of other cul
tures.” says Kollek, still the muse
um’s moving spirit.
Fortunately, along with visitors,
the museum also attracts collectors
and artists who are happy to donate
their art works to its impressive
showrooms. Thus, Baron Edmond
de Rothschild contributed a resplen
dent 18th century roccoco salon,
which became the first period room
in the museum, followed by the
donation by David Berg of New
York of an English period room,
complete with Sheraton and Chip
pendale furniture and 18th century
English silver.
In addition, two complete syn
agogues are on the premises: one
from a town near Venice, built in
1701, the other from Horb-am-
Main in Germany, the only hand-
painted wooden synagogue to have
survived the Holocaust.
The Bronfman family of Canada
and the Gotesman Foundation
helped finance the Samuel Bronf
man Biblical and Archaeological
Museum which mirrors the 5,000
year-old history of the Jewish peo
ple. Pottery from Second Temple
days is on display as well as Canaan-
ite sacrificial altars, fertility fig
ures. jugs from the Israelite period,
artifacts from Maccabean times,
mosaic floors, even games children
played in ancient days. A major
collection has recently been added—
that of the late Moshe Dayan.
A separate building distinguished
by a white dome composed of
thousands of mosaic tiles is the
Shrine of the Book, home of the
Dead Sea Scrolls. The white dome,
poised against the abrupt black
wall at its entrance, symbolizes the
theme of the Scrolls of the Sons of
Light against the Sons of Dark
ness. It was the late Yigae! Yadin
who discovered the papyrus scrolls
in a cave near the Dead Sea; they
survived the centuries because of
the dry desert climate.
Among the artists who presented
some of their works to the museum,
Belgian surrealist Rene Magritte
figures prominently. One of the
earliest acquisitions of the Israel
Museum—which in its brief 20
year existence has quintupled in
size—is the sculpture collection of
the late Broadway showman Billy
Rose. Located in a beautiful garden
designed by Japanese Isamu Nagu-
chi, the sculptures include such
famous names as Rodin. Maillol,
Picasso and Archipenko.
Avant garde sculpture by both
Israeli and other artists is shown in
a corner of the garden, named the
Billy Rose Pavilion, while the neigh
boring Jacques Lipshitz Pavilion
harbors some 140 Lipshitz bronzes.
The largest of the interconnected
See Dream, page 21.
George Shultz
cess despite the latest setbacks.
“As we’ve said many times be
fore,” State Department spokes
man Charles Redman said, “we’re
engaged in a process and a process
is, by its very nature, going to be
incremental and it’s unlikely that
there will be dramatic break
throughs. The process, however,
continues and we are considering
next steps and I’m not going to
speculate on what those steps might
be.”
According to press reports, King
Hussein, during his most recent
talks with Murphy, was understood
to have said that while he hopes his
plan will lead to eventual direct
talks, “the uncertainties of con
tinued cooperation from PLO
Chairman Yasir Arafat and the
reluctance of moderate Arab states
to support his peace initiative open
ly prevent him from giving any
assurances about what Jordan even
tually will do.”
Meanwhile, Israeli Finance Min
ister Yitzhak Modai is scheduled
to update Secretary of State George
Shultz on the implementation of
Israel’s latest economic recovery
measures when they meet today in
Washington. The finance minister
is coming to the U.S. to address
more than 300 Jewish activists from
around the United States at the
1985 National Leadership Confer
ence of Israel Bonds in Detroit.
Israeli officials said Modai is
likely to meet with U.S. Treasury
See Arms sales, page 21.
Interior of the Shrine of the Book at Jerusalem’s Israel Museum,
where the Dead Sea Scrolls are exhibited.