FROM OUR ARCHIVES
65 YEARS AGO
November 6, 1952 Reactions in Israel to Dwight D. Eisenhower’s victory in the presidential elections were as varied as they were many. A few were blasé about the whole affair, and thought that it didn’t matter one way or the other. But many citizens took on the status of amateur analysts and read into the results all sorts of significance. Some said that president-elect Eisenhower would not only bring peace to Korea, but he might also bring peace between Israel and Egypt. Another “analysis” to offset this was the one heard in Tel Aviv, “Another army general, another war.” Those who envisioned an Israel-Egypt peace reasoned that if there was to be war with Russia it was better to have a general at the helm, because he would strengthen the Middle East and force peace between the two countries for strategic reasons.
An 80-year-old woman was arrested in Jerusalem on suspicion of practicing sorcery. The woman was detained after a 16-year-old girl was found by her father muttering some mysterious ritual while hiding weeds and twigs under her pillow. The girl stated that the purpose of the ritual was to recapture the heart of a young man who was about to be married. He had spurned her because of a quarrel with her family. The accused “sorceress” allegedly charged 1,500 lirot to teach her the remedy.
50 YEARS AGO
November 6, 1967 A resident of Jatt who warned fellow villagers in May that Israel would be “crushed in an hour” and urged them to cross into Jordan with him was sentenced to a year in jail for attempted infiltration and spreading alarm. The accused had driven around the village and told the villagers to gather together and then follow him across the border into Jordan.
A unique coalition of international film stars and Israeli government and military leaders inaugurated Israel’s Variety Club at a gala banquet at the Tel Aviv Hilton. The guest of honor, prime minister Levi Eshkol, received a gold card of life membership in the club, and Maj.-Gen. Chaim Herzog officially assumed his post as “chief barker” in “tent No. 51” – to use Variety’s circus jargon for the presidency of its newest club. The president of Variety International, Ralph Pries, presented the club’s charter to Herzog and to actor Chaim Topol, who served as temporary president of the club in its formative stages. Topol – who was starring in Fiddler on the Roof in London – flew in specially for the event. Topol, Sean Connery and Maureen O’Hara were predictably the centers of attention.
A man who claimed to be able to heal certain diseases by the laying on of hands to the afflicted parts was acquitted of three of four charges of fraud. The Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court judge said that he had been persuaded that the man was blessed with healing powers conveyed by electrons which passed from his body to that of the patient. The accused was acquitted of fraud, soliciting practice of medicine and committing an indecent act. He was found guilty of practicing medicine without a license, but the judge urged that he be allowed to keep practicing under Health Ministry supervision. – Daniel Kra