Giving in to Settlers

Dear Sirs,
In a recent television appearance, Prime Minister Rabin said that his gov¬ernment had changed the country's national priorities and is not investing in settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT). This is a fine dec¬laration, but it has absolutely no connection with the reality on the ground.
On the very day of his TV appearance, bus fares in the whole country were raised. However, simultaneously, fares in the buses serving the set¬tlers in the OPT were actually reduced. The government decided to give the settlers, and only the settlers, another generous gift as if they were not receiving sufficient financial bribing all along the line at the expense of hard-pressed public funds.
At about the same time, it was announced that the government, under pressure by the settler lobby, had agreed to let them set up a Civil Guard in the territories. This provides a legal cover for their armed militia. Even Moshe Arens, the then-Likud defense minister, vigorously opposed giving the settlers such a permit. Aware of the grave danger involved in such a step, it is surprising and regrettable that Yitzhak Rabin has given in on this and other issues, large and small, to the settlers.

Adam Keller
Holon

Our Mistake

Dear Sirs,
In the Summer 1994 issue, Dan Leon quotes Rabbi Aharon Lichtenstein of Alon Shvut as calling Baruch Goldstein a martyr and other complimen¬tary phrases. It was not Rabbi Lichtenstein, but Dov Leor of Kiryat Arba who made these comments, in response to a letter from Rabbi Lichtenstein in which the latter called Goldstein a mass murderer and condemned the eulogy and comments made at Goldstein's funeral. Rabbi Lichtenstein sup¬ports the current peace process and is open to territorial compromise.
Rabbi Michael Balinsky Illinois

Other readers pointed out this error by Dan Leon, and he apologizes to Rabbi Aharon Lichtenstein.