Comrades at arms

INDEX OF THIS ISSUE

FEATURES
     Long-distance house call
     Good sport Former athlete now on team at chamber
SPECIAL:
ELECTION '98
     GOP gubernatorial candidates discuss ways to strengthen families
     Budget issues separate Republican attorney general hopefuls
     'Who's the real Democrat?' key issue in District 4 primary race
VALLEY
     Backers seek Arizona trade office in Israel
     Two Valley women to help with conversions
     Shofar Factory makes several Valley visits
     Sisterhood wraps holiday honey jars
NATION
     U.S. adopts Israeli stance against terror
WORLD
     European insurers agree to pay Holocaust claims
     Recent upheavals in Russia heighten concerns among Jews
ISRAEL
     Holocaust restitution deals fail to engross Jewish state
     Tensions in Hebron escalate after murder of rabbi
OPINION
     Editorial - Comrades at arms
     Letters to the Editor - In the Mail - August 28, 1998
     Marty Latz - In one week, faith shines after trust fades
ARTS
     AJTC holds auditions, wins nominations, meets with JCCA in New York
BUSINESS
     Local summit to focus on multicultural tourism
SPEAKING VOLUMES
     Author attempts to understand, explain 'why'
TORAH STUDY
     God is master of all

Comrades at arms

Editorial

When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Bill Clinton first came together as heads of state less than two years ago, the reception between them was reportedly cool. Yet events in the ensuing period suggest that they have much in common.

A case in point is the decisive U.S. action against terrorist Osama bin Laden, a Sunni Muslim terrorist who is believed to be responsible for masterminding the Aug. 7 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa.

Clinton's bold executive order for military strikes against bin Laden and his band suggest a mettle similar to that of Netanyahu - a comparison sharpened by bin Laden's declaration that the interests of the United States and Israel are synonymous. Bin Laden has vowed to attack U.S. interests worldwide "because of American support of Israel."

Inadvertently, bin Laden may have further solidified the U.S.-Israel relationship and helped to assure unremitting American support. The bombings made real for Americans the insidious threat of terrorism, a threat that Israel has lived with throughout its 50-year history.

While in Israel it is Hamas and Hezbollah that have posed the most danger, there is a similarity among groups that choose violence to further their own political aims, whatever their name or credo. Bin Laden's World Islamic Front for Jihad Against Jews and Crusaders reminds of the instability in the Middle East, and that Israel remains the only stable democracy in the region.

The brazen attack against American outposts, coupled with the U.S. strikes, also may help ease the deadlock in negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, shocking the P.A. into a new realization of the need to find a way to peaceful coexistence.

Following the bombings, Netanyahu publicly pledged solidarity with Clinton, declaring, "Israel undertakes the American fight against terrorism as its own."

Now, bin Laden's Israel-hating terrorists may cause even more Americans to undertake Israel's fight as its own.

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