Nixon, Israeli Arabs and a school opens
In the seat of the scornful
As the Watergate scandals in Washington have grown and expanded, Jews have been relieved that, thus far, no Jewish officials have been involved. In some measure at least, this is the result of the very small number of Jews appointed by President Nixon to major posts in his Administration. There is some satisfaction, on the other hand, that in the pursuit of the culprits, three Jews are in major strategic positions. Mr Leonard Garment has been named as the President’s legal counsellor; Mr Earl Silbert is the chief prosecuting attorney for the Federal grand jury investigating the Watergate break-in; and Mr Samuel Dash is the chief counsel to the Senate investigating committee which is holding hearings on the Watergate affair.
Labour admits Arab members
After putting off a decision for years, Israel Labour Party leaders last week agreed that Israeli Arabs should be admitted to the-party as full members. While the party’s secretary general, Mr Aharon Yadlin, denied that this was an election year ploy, spokesmen for the other parties have been quick to stress the ease with which previous reluctance to admit Arabs was swept aside. The spokesmen said that they remained unconvinced that there had been a genuine change of heart in the Labour Party. The question which now has to be decided is whether the two Arab election lists affiliated to the Labour Party, which have a total of four members in the Knesset, should be abolished or allowed to continue an independent existence.
ZF opens new school in Clapton
Built at a cost of over £250,000, the State-aided Simon Marks Jewish Primary School, Clapton, which is to replace the 17- year-old Clapton Jewish Day School, was formally opened last week. The plaque was unveiled by Mr J. Edward Sieff, the school’s hon. president, and a mezuzah was fixed by Mr Lev! Gertner, director of the Zionist Federation educational trust. The Chief Rabbi, Dr I. Jakobovits said: “Jewish schools have come of age. Without flourishing schools today we shall not have tomorrow’s Zionists, synagogue members and JPA contributors.”