Digging Deep
The tantalizing geography of the Dead Sea region as a source of hydroelectric power for Israel has been a topic of discussion and analysis since the days of Theodor Herzl. Leora Eren Frucht brings out in “Dead Reckoning” (April/May issue) the urgency of this endeavor, but she doesn’t touch on the technology that has become available that make this engineering program feasible and potentially highly profitable.

The key element is the development of tunnel-boring machines, used in many parts of the world for major projects requiring extensive tunneling operations.

The bottom line for a project pursuing this approach is that we’re not talking about a surface canal, but a sea-level tunnel extending from the Mediterranean, around Ashkelon, to Ein Bokek. There could be a very large reservoir and hydroelectric station there, and also a recreation area.

Hy Pardes
Ocean, NJ

A Call for Unity
It is disappointing that Hadassah published the politically tainted article “Israeli Life: Looking for Resolution” by Gershom Gorenberg (April/May issue). His attacks on now Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman are unfounded and misleading. The Yisrael Beitenu Party has broad support in Israel. Its Knesset list has several women and a Druze member. It is not anti-Arab; it is pro-Israel, as every party should be.

Leftist journalists like Gorenberg are not serving the interests of Hadassah or Israel by demonizing the new government’s leaders before they even take office. The election is over and now is the time for reconciliation and unity against our real enemies.

Gil Stein
Aptos, CA

Corrections
Rock Hill and Fort Mill, mentioned in “The Jewish Traveler: Charlotte” (April/May issue), are both located in York County, South Carolina, not Lancaster County.

In “Interview: Bernard Lewis” (April/May issue), Lewis was misquoted as saying he was sitting with the president of Jordan watching Israeli television. He was, in fact, sitting with Jordanian friends.