Israeli resolve impresses Shurtleff

Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff wears a blue bracelet on his right wrist with the names Udi, Gilad and Eldad engraved on it, along with the Jewish star of David.

It's a memento given to him by the family of Ehud (Udi) Goldwasser, an Israeli soldier being held captive by Hezbollah militants.

"They're holding together. It's amazing," Shurtleff said Wednesday at a news conference at Salt Lake City's Jewish Community Center, where he recounted his recent trip to Israel.

Shurtleff spent the week of Sept. 11 in Israel on a "fact-finding mission," meeting with local politicians, diplomats and Israeli and Palestinian officials. He also visited bombed-out buildings, villages on the Israel-Lebanon border and an Arab neighborhood in Haifa.

The attorney general's trip was paid for by the United Jewish Communities and Jewish Council for Public Affairs, two national philanthropic organizations. He traveled with pastors, city council members and other non-Jewish opinion leaders from all over the United States.

Shurtleff made comparisons between Israel's many wars and the U.S.-led war on terror and the war in Iraq.

"You look at Israel, who's been fighting this war for 50 or 60 years, and they have ongoing terrorist attacks," he said Wednesday. "It's different from us who are all complaining and moaning about 'Get out of Iraq and give up.' They're all saying, 'Stay the course.'"

Utah Jewish community leaders said the trip helped educate non-Jewish people about what is happening in Israel. Shurtleff has helped set up a chapter in Utah of the America-Israel Friendship League, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to strengthen ties through exchange programs, bringing Americans to Israel and Israelis to the United States.

"Peace is possible when open minds and open hearts are willing," said Bill Tumpowsky with the Jewish Community Center in Salt Lake City.

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E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com