Israeli leader discusses 'crisis'

In a time of difficulty, with the threat of war and guards at every store and coffee shop, Israel is preparing for yet another election. But despite turbulence on the homefront, one of the leading members of Israel's Likud Party made time to talk to Penn students yesterday during his short visit to Philadelphia. "Israel is in a very big crisis," said Eli Cohen, a prominent Knesset member. Cohen gave an informal speech at Hillel in order to share his beliefs about Israel's current political situation, including the complicated election at hand. But weighing more heavily on everyone's minds was the Palestinian question. "Many Israelis have moved to the right" because they want firmer resolutions to the daily issues with which they are confronted, Cohen said. As the head of the Preservation of Values of Likud, Cohen said he must remind his fellow party members what their party name supports. And that position is no Palestinian state, a view taken by both Cohen and the Likud Party. Israel is "not negotiating with someone normal" because the negotiations are against the threat of absolute terror, Cohen affirmed, further stating that Israel must try to fight terror at its source because "protecting each individual citizen from attack... 24 hours a day" is an impossible task. In the long term, he feels that the Palestinians must be able to govern themselves locally, but that the current situation makes that all but feasible. "It was very interesting hearing his analysis of the current political situation and of the upcoming Israeli election," said Andrea Allmayer, the director of Jewish Graduate Student Network for Hillel. As a lieutenant colonel in the Israeli army, Cohen knows the pressure of fighting for his country and believes that a show of strength is the only way to end the threat of terror. "It's a long term problem," Cohen asserted, laying down his solutions to the issue of two to three million Palestinian refugees -- a number that will only swell -- as well as a method by which to create a working infrastructure with homes and industries for the Palestinians. Trying to return stability to a government that he feels is up in the air, Cohen will return to Israel for the elections after completing his visit to the United States.