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Page 2 THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE November 21, 1986
Reagan’s Iranian deal gets
ironic barrage of criticism
by Yaacov Ben Yosef
Special to The Southern l\raelite
NEW YORK—It is all so ironic,
Ronald Reagan in trouble over
Iran. Who would have imagined
that the president who swept into
office in part because of Jimmy
Carter’s frustrated attempts to
free American hostages now has
his own problems with Iran? Who
would have believed that Ronald
Reagan’s policies would arouse
more criticism among the Ameri
can public than the Carter poli
cies toward Iran?
Yet that is the president’s cur
rent predicament.
For a visitor from Israel, the
unfolding of Reagan’s secret deal
ings with Iran seem odd. For 18
months the president of the U nited
States negotiated in utmost se
crecy with the Iranian Govern
ment in the apparent hope that it
would review its hostile attitude
toward the United States. As
part of the reassessment, the pres
ident certainly hoped that the
freeing of the hostages would be
one major, tangible result.
How he misread American
public opinion on those secret
negotiations. Were the Israelis to
have been found negotiating in
secret with the Syrians (who after
all are the sworn enemy of Israel),
1 doubt that the Israeli public
would have reacted with as much
censure and disgust as did the
Americans over last week’s dis
closures.
The Israelis, though they will
still not deal with the Palestine
Liberation Organization, are
nonetheless far more pragmatic
than the U.S. when it comes to
international dealings. It was the
Israelis who agreed to release
over 1,000 Arab terrorists for
only three Israelis some time ago.
It was also the Israelis who agreed
to sit down with Anwar Sadat in
1977 though he had been the
mastermind behind the Yom Kip-
pur War four years earlier.
The situation in the U.S. is
clearly different from that in 1s-
Ronald Reagan
rael. Israelis knew that their gov
ernment was negotiating with
Egypt; Americans were kept in
the dark over the contacts with
Iran.
The American public does not
like to be told one thing in public
and find out that behind its back
another truth is emerging. If Iran
has been labeled the embodiment
of international terror, as the
American president kept saying,
then it would be unthinkable to
be negotiating with such a state
over anything. The idea of giving
that state arms, however defen
sive in nature, would equally
repugnant.
Yet, that is precisely what
Ronald Reagan was caught doing.
To return to Israel for a moment,
the government in Jerusalem has
long had a policy of providing
arms to Iran, more so during the
reign of the shah than during
Khomeini’s rule. Yet, arms have,
we are told, been shipped to
Khomeini as well. There was no
hue and cry about that in Israel
when the Israeli press carried
reports of such dealings.
The reason for the subdued
Israeli reaction, I would guess,
has to do with the perception in
Jerusalem that Iraq, Iran’s enemy,
represents a greater military threat
to Israel than does Iran. Israel’s
general attitude toward the Iran-
Iraq war, raging since 1980, has
been that the best thing would be
for the war to continue as long as
possible without a winner.
In all of these disclosures this
past week, the remarkable fact
remains that the American pres
ident had to go public with his
efforts without being able to show
much by way of results. Only one
hostage has been released recently;
others remain in captivity despite
the back and forth efforts of
secret and not-so-secret mediators.
The president’s troubles just
won’t go away. Now on Sunday
came the news that the secretary
of state, George Shultz, is against
giving more arms to the Iranians.
That declaration, made on CBS’
“Face the Nation,” is a definite
slap in the face at the president
and all those around him in the
White House who have pursued
the Iranian link.
Yet Shultz felt strongly enough
to make a break with the admin
istration’s policy. It seems incon
ceivable that he will remain secre
tary of state for long after these
occurences. Losing Shultz would
further damage Reagan as the
secretary of state has been deemed
effective. His departure would
underline the inept handling of
the Iranian matter.
TSI closing for Thanksgiving
Since The Southern Israelite will be closed Thursday and
Friday, Nov. 27 and 28, for the Thanksgiving Holiday, we will
extend the deadline for copy for the Dec. 5 issue to noon
Monday, Dec. I. Copy not received by that time cannot be
promised for inclusion in the Dec. 5 issue.
weekly
specials
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Oscherwitz Franks 12 ounce 1.89 ea.
Short Ribs 2.49 lb.
Shoulder Roast square cut 2.89 lb.
Chuck Roast blade cut 1.99 1b.
Our Fabulous Rotisserie Cooked Turkeys
Avg. 12 -14 lb. (raw weight)
*25.00 each
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©
SJews Briefs
$54.5 million in Israel Bonds sold
NEW YORK A new record of $54.5 million in Israel Bond
subscriptions during the annual High Holy Day Bond Appeals,
which represents an increase of more than $6 million over last
year’s holiday results, was announced by Brig. Gen. (Res.)
Yehudah Halevy, president of Israel Bonds, and Rabbi Stanley
M. Davids of New York, national chairman of its Rabbinic
Cabinet. , t . .
This year’s Bond appeals were conducted in more than
I 100 synagogues in the United States and Canada.
The new record in Bond subscriptions during Rosh Hashana
and Yom Kippur was attributed by the two leaders to the
“extraordinary support” of the rabbis of these congregations,
and particularly those rabbis who hosted more than 300 pre
holiday meetings for leading members of their congregations.
Israel’s 2nd liver recipient dies
TEL AVIV (JTA)—Eliahu Schreier, Israel’s second liver
transplant patient, died Nov. 13 at Rambam Hospital in Haifa,
18 days after surgery. His death followed by five days that of the
first transplant patient, Mira Schichmanter. Despite the set
backs, hospital director Albert Sattinger said the operations
would continue and the Health Ministry confirmed that.
Doctors at the hospital said that Schreier, like Schichman
ter, succumbed to complications arising from the advanced
stages of their liver ailments, not the surgery. Both underwent
second operations to correct internal bleeding. According to
Sattinger, neither patient would have lived more than a few
days without transplants.
Israeli soldiers kill Arab driver
JERUSALEM (JTA)—Israeli soldiers killed an Arabdriver
at a Gaza roadblock last Wednesday afternoon, shortly after an
Israeli civilian was stabbed in the Gaza marketplace. The vic
tim, Shabtai Shvilli of Ashkelon, sustained a knife wound in the
back of his neck but was not badly hurt. He was taken to a
hospital in Ashkelon.
He was the third Israeli in two months to be stabbed while
shopping in Gaza. The two earlier victims were fatally wounded.
Authorities believe the same assailant was responsible for the
three attacks.
Blet Shemesh in receivership
JERUSALEM (JTA)—The Ministerial Economic Com
mittee voted last week to place the debt-ridden Beit Shemesh
engine plant in receivership. The factory employs 340 residents
of the development town of Beit Shemesh, and unless Israel
Aviation Industries (I AI) agrees to take it over, the government
will have to find them jobs.
The plant manufactures engines components of the Lavi,
Israel’s second generation jet fighter plane which I AI will build.
According to IAI sources, the components can be manufac
tured more cheaply at the Pratt & Whitney plants in the United
States.
The Beit Shemesh engine works is $100 million in debt,
mainly to the government and commercial banks. It is reported
to be losing $2 million a month.
Shamir mum on Iranian arms sale
JERUSALEM (JTA)—Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir
declined to comment Monday on reports that Israel sold arms
to Iran. At the same time, he told the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs
and Security Committee that the matter of former nuclear
technician Mordechai Vanunu’s disappearance from London
ct.1 has been cleared up with Britain and the misunderstand
ing as been laid to rest. His statement was substantiated by
roreign Minister Shimon Peres.
Shamir told the committee it was the government’s preroga
tive to be silent on the alleged Iranian arms shipments which
was not an issue for public debate.
Marriage restrictions by passed
(JTA)—Israeli travel agents are offering a
rV nrJ m T P ac ^ a 6 e trip to Cyprus in cooperation with the
u e ^ l .? r ! ties ^ or couples who cannot marry in Israel
because of religious restrictions.
trave * expenses, marriage fees and a
acent H#»ai m 3 u^i! )0ar( * ^ or ^87, Haaretz reported. The travel
ties about inn t ! lcpaper work According to Cypriot authori-
Papos alone each ye a r rr ' a8eS performed in ,he ,0Wn ° f