Ariel Sharon has been weighing the options for his government and \”disengagement plan\” since his humiliating defeat at last week\’s Likud Party convention, but none of the alternatives looks particularly good.
Each November, Valley Beth Shalom holds a meeting at which its youth director urges parents to send their teenagers on a summer trip to Israel. In 1999, more than 100 families attended. This past November, there were only eight. The low turnout appears to reflect parental anxiety over safety issues in the Middle East. Lisa Kaplan, who heads The Jewish Federation\’s Israel Experience Program office, explains that \”in times of peace, the students make the decision. In difficult times, the parents make the decision.\”
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