Assaying Israel and its neighbors

JUDAISM OR JEWISH ACTIVITIES are breaking out all over. A journal of events, as listed on our page 7 last week totalled nine for last Sunday alone. I attended two, the Schenectady B’nai B’rith awards and the Joseph Cohen Memorial Lecture, both featuring  speaker Yoram Ettinger.

We at The Jewish World appreciate the award for community service. This is what we are all about! But, this is a family affair! Going back 42 3/4ths years ago, my wife, Pearl, helped sell some advertising and also on Monday nights, at home, read proofs. A few weeks down the road, one of my older sisters, Lee Lapin of Tucson, Ariz., lent $500 to help cover the first financial crunch. For most recent years, my daughter, Laurie, has done most of the work in the weekly production and son Jim has been contributing ideas, and this past winter completed some of the colorful front pages.

Solid Opinions
Speaker Ettinger, a high school classmate in Israel of Dr. Igal Zuravicky of Albany, is a man with positive opinions, which he expressed for the B’nai B’rith breakfast crowd of 150 and for another 100 or so at Agudat Achim Synagogue in the evening. He also spoke for a Bridges for Peace gathering Saturday night at a church in Latham.

Ettinger, who is president of the U.S.-Israel Opportunities, Ltd., had served as minister for congressional affairs with Israel’s embassy in Washington (title of ambassador) and at the consul general’s office in Houston, Texas.

He had several basic themes:

In 60 years, Israel’s successes in many fields have been astonishing: agriculture, help for smaller independent states, technology, science, medicine; The Land for Peace idea was ridiculous from its inception; all it did was hand the Arabs (Muslims, Palestinians) launching pads for more demands and intransigence;

The United States Department of State has been wrong almost every time, in every case since 1948 when President Truman insisted on recognizing immediately the newly-proclaimed state of Israel and bringing Arafat to the White House lawn and international acceptance in 1993; Appeasement never works; with the Arabs, it just added to the base for more “hate-education.”

A lot of strife and dissension with Israel’s neighbors is that they continue to fight each other; As for demographics, the latest fertiltity counts indicate the disparity in the two population totals is decreasing, despite the  normal deliberate expansion of Palestinian totals;

Begin was proven right, when he overruled all advice internally and from Washington about the surprise raid in 1981 to destroy Iran’s nuclear capability;
Solving the Palestinian problem will not solve anything; the U.S. is the real target. All the major bombing attacks with major loss of life have been U.S. targets; Every effort should be made to keep Russia out of the Gaza Strip.

Obama-Clinton; Clinton-Obama

More and more, politicians and everyday Democrat voters are speculating about the ticket for the November match up with McCain, the Republican.

Regardless of the results of Tuesday’s primary voting, it would appear that the decision will be made at the national convention.

Will the loser accept an invitation to become the vice presidential candidate? This pair surely would be a strong ticket, with a lot of appeal for the outs—women and Afro-Americans.

But: Will Hillary Clinton accept the second spot? I don’t think so.

Will Barack Obama run with Clinton and be secondary? Yes, I think he would and should.