SHABBAT
V0l..LVII,NO.35 - 23EI.UL,57S0 THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 13,1990
ROSH
U.S.
Community Rally Monday kicks off CJA and Operation Exodus
ISRAELI DEBT
Gov't would m^^ request
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JWB Staff
Harry Hurwitz, special advisor for Jewish affairs to Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Shamir, will be the guest speaker when the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver holds a Community Rally and mobilization this coming Monday, Sept. 17.
Set to begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Hotel Vancouver's Pacific Ballroom, the rally is being held to kick off the two-line emerg^ency Operation Exodus campaign and thp Combined Jewish Appeaj,
The g^thieWiT^, focusing oh "the fofhgbirig growth and vitality of our local community,'* represents opportunity to bring the community together to discuss the well-being of tfie local and global Jewish communities,** a Federation spokesman ^ told The Bulletin.
Hurwitz will Report bn the. latest events surrounding the " Persian Gulf crisis and the mass Soviet aliyah to Israel. "Due id the volatile situation in the Middle East," organizers emphasized, "the timing, nature and content of the event may change on short , notice.**
Hurwitz plays a key role in establishing liaisons between the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem and Jewish leadership worldwide.
Born in Libau, Latvia in 1924, he was a leader of the South African Jewish community before making aliyah in May 1978. Educated at
HURWITZ
Johannesburg school and university, he was a journalist "and longtime editor of the Jewish Herald, then the only midweek Jewish newspaper in South Africa.
Hurwitz became chairman of the South African Zionist Federation. A member of the World Zionist 6rganization*s actions committee, he .was
general secretary of the
See Ediiorial Page 4
Zionist-Revisionist Organization of South Africa and was on the world executive of Heruth-Hatzohar. , _He has served as minister for information at the Israeli embassy in Washington, D.C. and was advisor to former Israeli prime minister Mena-chem Begin, a close friend since 1947. f
Travelling extensively throughout the Jewish world, H urwitz has explained Israers position on important current events.
The Federation rally will enjoy scenes from Fiddler on the Roof, to be performed by a""ca3t of 36 — including several newcomers from the Soviet Union, some of whom have performed before. . "Genya Kaplun, one of the kids m the chprusi vvasviii ^a Petro-Canada teleyisiori commercial the first- a^0ek hie was in Canacla;*^ noted producer Barbara Shumiatcher. Shu-miatcher,^ and Charlotte Raber, coordinator of Jewish Family Service Agency's Ne w_ Connections program (sponsored by Federation), will present the half-hour special.
Included are the "Tradition" number; Tzeitel and Motel's wedding scene, which ends in a pogrom; and the final scene, in which the vil-RALLY — Page 19 »
By DAVID FRIEDMAN
WASHINGTON --As United States president George Bush asked Congress to forgive a $7 billion debt owed by Egypt in the U.S., there was growing indication that Isi-ael; too, would ask that its debt be forgiven by Washington.
White House ^piikesmanMarlinFitzwate last week
that Bush is recommending that Congress forgive the $7 billion Egypt owes for military purchases. Egypt would still owe the U.S. some $6 billion for economic aid, Fitz water said. He said the administration would study requests from Israel and other countries for similar treatment.
"But we don't consider this plained that Egyptian aid has
been linked with aid to Israel since the 1978 Camp David Accord. Israel receives $3 billion in economic and military
a precedent for dealing with other debts," the spokesman added, "We will consider every request on its merits."
It could not be learned whether Israeli foreign minister David Levy would bring up the issue last week, when he met here with American secretary of state James Baker. Israeli sources said no official request for forgiveness of the debt had been riiaide yet.
But in Israel, Finanee M in-ister Yitzhak Moda'i said last week that he would ask for the debt to be canceled when he meets with U.S. Treasury officials in Washington later this month. He .will be coming here for the International Monetary Fund's annual meeting.
Moda'i said the Bush administration "definitely" should cancel the Israeli debt, which totals some $4.5 billion. "I don't see how they can avoid it," he said.
The finance minister ex-
Israel Sun
MODA'I ... heading to Washington
aid, and Egypt $2.3 billion, making them the two^largest-recipients of U.S. foreign assistance.
Israeli officials here said that two years ago, Israel refinanced part of its debt to the U.S. on the private market for a lower interest rate and now
owes the private market some,
$5.5 billion. Ninety percent of this debt is guaranteed by the U.S. government. The sources said Egypt was given the same opportunity to refinance its debt at the time, but refused in the belief that the debt would eventually be forgiven by the United States.
Fitzwater said the decision on Egypt was "stimulated in part by Egypt's leadership in. resisting Iraqi aggression" and the '^unique strategic contribution of Egypt to the pursuit of peace and security in the Middle East."
The -..move followed an announcement by the Bush administration two weeks ago that it planned an emergency sale of some $2.3 billion in sophisticated military equipment to Saudi Arabia to bolster its defences against an Iraqi attack.
One obstacle to both the arms sale and the debt forgiveness is the U.S. budget deficit, which the administra-DEBT — Page 17
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