Deputy Premier Abba Eban told the 26th World Zionist Congress today that until the Arab states reconciled themselves to Israel’s existence, Arab hostility “must be contained within present limits and not allowed to infect other areas of international relations.” He added such hostility also should be “exposed to the assault of international disapproval.”
The key to peace in the Middle East, he said, may lie not within the region but with a hundred governments outside the area to which Israel and its neighbors turn for friendship and support. He proposed that those governments should commit themselves not to specific nations but to specific ideas. He listed these as including to be for peace, against war, for integrity and independence of all states, for peaceful commerce and against boycott pressures.
He noted that Israel now had diplomatic relations with 90 countries and that there was not a single country in the western hemisphere which was withholding full diplomatic ties from Israel. He emphasized the relationship of “solid, growing trust” with the United States, close ties with Latin America, “which contributed 50 per cent of the votes leading to Israel’s admission to the United Nations,” and close relations with the nations of the European community.
Without referring to the Soviet Union by name, he stressed Israel’s desire that the great powers reach common ground in even-handed support of the integrity and independence of Middle Eastern countries. He also emphasized Israel’s developing relations with the African continent.
Mr. Eban emphasized that Israel was not an isolated Mediterranean state but the focus of universal Jewish responsibility and Jewish pride. “Let the word go forth from this place that 3,000,000 Jews across the world see Israel’s safety and honor as a cause worthy of every effort and sacrifice, “he said. He emphasized the imperativeness of a “strong infusion” into Israel of Jewish manpower from the lands of freedom and intellectual progress.
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.
