University of Virginia Library

Jerusalem's Deputy Mayor

Rabbi Cohen Calls Israel 'Result Of Agony'

By Mark MacNamara

"Israel is a result of agony and
suffering," said Rabbi Shear
Yashuv Cohen last night in a
lecture entitled "After the Six
Day War."

Rabbi Cohen is the Deputy
Mayor of Jerusalem. He is currently
in this country on a lecture
series sponsored by the B'nai
B'rith Bethel Foundation.

The Rabbi began his talk by
stressing that the Middle East War
last June started many years before
then. He explained that the
state itself represented many centuries
of hope and yearning that
"Israel is the epitome of dreams."

He went on to explain that the
reasons for the June war were
derived from a "basic difference
of opinion," which was the Arab
refusal to recognize that "Israel
is a reality."

"Israelis do not fight for additional
power...or prestige...or
land, but to survive," commented
the Rabbi. "Unless we fight, unless
we succeed in remaining an
independent state...Israel ceases to
exist."

The Deputy Mayor went on to
say that the Arabs were fighting
against the "will of progress." He
said that he admired their stubbornness
in the face of never ending
failure, "but I do not envy
them, I pity them."

The Jerusalem official told of
the "conflict of foreign powers"
wj
which destroyed the one chance
for peaceful co-existence between
Arabs and Jews. He was referring
to the Sykes-Picot agreement in
which the English and the French
after World War I divided up the
Ottoman Empire.

The Rabbi based Israel's right to
exist on the basis that the land
they now occupied had been their
home for two thousand years and
that the "Arabs do not need
Palestine to progress...the Middle
East is a huge desert in which to
develop."

He said the basis of Arab culture
is not in Palestine, but in
Medina and Mecca. The Rabbi
said that "this tiny strip of land...
was a pioneering nation trying to
establish new settlements and at
the same time trying to co-exist
with her neighbors."

Turning to the refugee question
Mr. Cohen said that he could
not understand why so many Arabs
had left their-homes-that it was
a "terrible tragedy." He continued,
"We begged them to stay."

Concerning the present situation,
the Rabbi said "Israel with
her newly acquired territories has
only the problem to survive."

Rabbi Cohen went on to comment
that Israel needs the help
of all nations. However, he expressed
the doubt that until Russian
influence forced the Arabs to
a direct confrontation with the
Israelis, there would be no peace
in the area.