“Israel should not interfere in communal affairs of Jewish communities abroad or in the normal relations between Jewish citizens of various countries and their respective governments,” Moshe Sharett, former Israel Premier, told the Assembly of the World Jewish Congress in session here.
He sounded a word of caution about the “idea of partnership between Israel and the Diaspora in the organizational set-up.” There were functions of Jewish life which lay outside the plain of Israel affairs, he said. On the other hand, there were fields of activity which are the exclusive prerogative of the State of Israel, he stressed.
Mr. Sharett told the Assembly that “polemics about the future existence of Jewry outside Israel are academic. Even the most ardent prophet of the ultimate complete liquidation of Jewry outside Israel will agree that the process will stretch over an incalculable stretch of time,” he said.
Dr. Salo Baron, professor of Jewish History, Literature and Institutions at Columbia University, expressed his belief that Israel will continue with the ingathering of the exiles, not only in the physical sense but also in the sense of absorbing the fruit of world culture.
Mr. Israel M. Sieff, who is chairman of the European executive of the World Jewish Congress, told the Assembly it is impossible for Jews outside Israel to prepare any program of plan of action “unless, in some way or other, such plans or programs have a relationship with Israel.” However, he expressed a fear that “certain groups in Israel have lost their ritual contact with Jewry outside Israel.”
W. J. C. PLANS TO BUILD A “DR. NAHUM GOLDMANN DIASPORA HOUSE” IN ISRAEL
The Assembly today heard a report on the proposal to establish in Tel Aviv a “Dr. Nahum Goldmann Diaspora House” for which plans are being drawn up. A suggestion was made to launch a $500, 000 campaign for this project.
King Gustav Adolf of Sweden today sent a message of greetings to the delegates of the Assembly of the World Jewish Congress. Greetings were also received from Mme. Folke Bernadotte, widow of the Swedish Count who was assassinated in Israel when he served as United Nations mediator in the Arab-Israel war.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
