Word: eshkol
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...commandos into Jordan after an attack in Israel's Negev desert, landed troops from choppers fore and aft of the guerrillas and killed five of them in the ensuing firefight. While Israeli and Jordanian troops traded fire in daily duels across the muddy Jordan River, Israeli Premier Levi Eshkol observed ominously that "any form of war and incitement to war will oblige us to repel, deter, and take the battle to the enemies' gates and beyond." That might mean new invasion thrusts toward Damascus, Amman and Cairo if the commando infiltrations continue...
Progressive leaders met with Premier Levi Eshkol, petitioned the government to grant Reform Judaism wider legal status in Israel, demanding that 1) Reform rabbis be permitted to officiate at weddings and funerals, 2) conversions to Judaism carried out by Reform rabbis be legally recognized, and 3) the government provide financial aid to Reform groups, as it does to Orthodox congregations...
...Eshkol was willing to consider financial aid, but offered little hope for the other requests until Reform increased its ranks in Israel. Tel Aviv's chief rabbi, Brigadier General" Shlomo Goren, charged that "Reform leaders in America want to export their religion but not their bodies to Israel." To demonstrate an interest in exporting at least a few bodies, the progressives' governing board passed a resolution recommending that Reform Jews be encouraged to settle in Israel. Reform Rabbi Richard Hirsch of Washington, D.C., a leader of the progressives' union, will stay in Israel for at least several...
...Eshkol's cabinet, meantime, is divided over how much of the occupied territory it will be willing to bargain over in any negotiations, some wanting to return none at all and others willing to give part; nobody wants to give it all back. The results of a poll by Israel's Dachaf agency last week show that an overwhelming 87% approve the government's policy of refusing to give back any territory until the Arabs agree to direct talks with Israel. Surprisingly, 78% are willing to give back one or more pieces once negotiations begin...
...also involves the onerous duty of governing 1,300,000 more Arabs who inhabit conquered territories that are together three times the size of Israel itself. The burden of the occupation has compounded older problems. Many younger politicians are losing patience with the pioneer generation of leaders typified by Eshkol. Men like Dayan's aide, Knesset Member Simon Peres, describe them as "a self-perpetuating oligarchy with a powerful sense of self-pity." Despite its recovery, the economy has serious weaknesses, among them its dependence upon the generosity of Jews abroad and its large trade deficit. Defense expenditures have...