Shazar Says Understanding Response of American Jews Enables Israel to Survive

Without the generosity of American Jews which is so significant to Israel’s need, nothing would mean anything even if the Soviet Union opened her gates to her Jews, President Zalman Shazar of Israel said last night. Speaking in Yiddish to an audience of 500 persons attending the opening dinner of the Greater New York Israel Bond Campaign at the Hotel Pierre, Shazar said that this was the first time any president of Israel had come to America to raise funds. He was glad to accept the invitation to help raise $400 million, almost double the amount raised in 1967, he said, adding “Now I know why I came. I found the warmth in the hearts of the Jews in America. I came here and searched for God and I found him in the heart of each Jew in Greater New York and the United States.” Stating that he knew that Jewish people everywhere will do their utmost to see that Israel “keeps going and establishes peace,” he said that the “understanding response” of the Jews of America will enable soldiers in Israel to “guard the lives of the Jewish people in Israel and the Jewish people wherever they are.” The President commented that time was so short for him. “There are so few days here, and not enough hours in each day.”

Shazar, who entered and departed from the Grand Ballroom under a heavy security guard and accompanied by officials of the Bond organization, was greeted by a standing ovation at his entrance and departure and at the conclusion of his speech. Earlier in the evening, Rehaveam Amir, Israel’s Consul General in New York, asked the dinner guests “not to let the newspapers make peace for you.” He declared, “Before the Six-Day war the settlements in the Belsan Valley were shelled daily by Syrian guns located on the Golan Heights. Before the Six-Day War, Tel Aviv and Haifa were two minutes from enemy planes. Now they are twenty-four-and-one-half minutes from Egyptian planes. Israel’s taxpayer, the blood and sweat of his children, keep us strong. We will not let Egyptian guns at Sharm el-Sheikh. We will not let Syrian guns on the Golan Heights. We will keep a unified Jerusalem.” Amir stated that the “great untapped source of our strength is the Jewish people, and noted that “our very existence liss in our steadfastness and we are ready to stand fast.” But, he added, “Standing fast is costly to us. Men and women are constantly ready to be mobilized. Our taxes are the highest in the world. Real peace, the right of sovereign states has eluded us.” Amir said that Israel had “no one to insure our safety or our future, only ourselves” and added. “a strong Israel costs a lot of money.” Sam Rothberg, general chairman of the Israel Bond Organization, reported $4.5 million in advance subscriptions had been raised by the Greater New York Bond Organization, prior to the dinner, for a total of Bond sales in the U.S. in excess of $107 million.