Premier Golda Meir told the closing session of the International Conference On Human Needs in Israel that “as long as the Jewish people is on our side, we will hold out too.” The conference was attended by 204 delegates from the United State and 33 other countries She also told the Jewish leaders that Israel could not resign Itself to a condition of “something between peace and war–peace in the morning and war in the evening, or peace in the north and war in the south.”
Earlier the delegates adopted a series of resolutions which were not considered formal and binding but rather as expressing a consensus of the conference. Officials said detailed work on elaborating the proposals and findings would continue in working groups and committees. The goal for the coming year was set at raising between $350 million and $400 million. A resolution read by Morris L. Levinson of New York said, “We call on the Jewish people to unite in a vast effort to develop Israel’s human resources to create a society here which will bring pride to us all, renewing the glory of our past and the promise of our future.” Samuel Rothberg of Peoria, III., was chairman of the session at which the various recommendations were adopted.
The health workshop, chaired by Mrs. Charlotte Jacobson of New York, recommended implementation of a Government 10-year plan to improve Israel’s medical services, a project which has been deferred because of the burdens of defense outlays. Jack D. Weiler, New York real estate executive, reporting for the housing workshop, said $1 billion must be invested over the next five years in construction, noting that 70,000 families need new homes, apart from additional couples marrying each year the many families living in overcrowded conditions. Michael Sacher of London, summing up for the campaigns workshop, expressed regret that a “chaotic situation” existed in fund-raising. The workshop recommended a special body to coordinate activities.
Louis A. Pincus. chairman of the Jewish Agency, who, jointly with Mrs. Meir, sponsored the conference, told the delegates that the Agency was in process of being enlarged. He said the conference was evidence of the vitality of the enlargement because an expanded Jewish Agency could be an efficient means toward Jewish unity and aid for Israel.
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.
