Jewish locals given insight into crisis

Jace Radke

Monday, Oct. 30, 2000 | 11:36 a.m.

After speaking for more than an hour about the conflict in the Middle East to a group of more than 100 members of Las Vegas' Jewish community Sunday night, the Anti-Defamation League's Kenneth Jacobson found himself having to remind his audience not to lose hope.

The reminder came after an audience member questioned if it was naive to think Israelis and Palestinians could live in peace in the near future, and before Jacobson could answer many in the audience said yes.

"We need to take heart in what (Israeli Prime Minister Ehud) Barak has done," said Jacobson, who serves as the ADL's assistant national director and director of international affairs. "I do believe that over a period of time there can be peace."

Jacobson's briefing, co-sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Las Vegas, touched on how the recent conflict started, what the future holds and how it's tied into Israel's internal problems.

Jacobson detailed the violence that has killed more than 150 people since Israel Likud Party leader Ariel Sharon's Sept. 28 visit to a disputed holy shrine on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

The visit was used as a pretext by the Palestinians to instigate the violence, drawing attention away from the true reason for the unrest, according to Jacobson.

Palestinian leader Yasser, "Arafat walked out of Camp David rejecting a generous offer," Jacobson said. "It's because they don't truly want to end the conflict. They want their claims to remain open, because in the end they don't want Israel to be there."

Jacobson told the community members gathered at the Alexis Park Resort, 375 E. Harmon Ave., that ending the conflict will hinge largely on what happens when Israel's parliament convenes in a matter of days.

Barak has been working to put together a unity government with Sharon, but those efforts have not met with much success, and former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been gaining support. An election could be called if Barak cannot bring a unity government together.

"Barak only has 30 seats of the government and needs 60 to maintain, and that's why he's working toward unity," Jacobson said. "Going to an election in the middle of a crisis is not a very good choice for Israel.

"Barak is in a precarious situation, because he must find a way to protect the people without falling into the trap of escalating violence, which is what Arafat wants. People say Barak's not tough enough, and he knows there has to be a response, but not enough to fall into the trap."

The trap is to use Israel's much stronger military against the weaker Palestinians, swinging the world community sympathies to the Palestinians. Arafat would like to see Israel retaliate enough to draw in world peacekeepers to separate the two sides, Jacobson said.

Jacobson also challenged the community members to support Israel.

"We need to reach out to our friends and relatives in the Jewish community and beyond," Jacobson said. "There is a perception in the Arab world that Israel is becoming weak and losing resolve, and part of that perception is the idea that American Jews don't care about Israel, and by that America doesn't care. We as a community have to reinvigorate ourselves."