Conference of Presidents Urges U.S. to Reject Charges Against Israel’s Administration of Jerusalem

The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations today called on the U.S. State Department to reject charges in the United Nations Security Council against Israel’s administration of Jerusalem. “American Jews and Jews the world over view with deep dismay and growing alarm efforts to challenge the just and rightful sovereignty which Israel exercises over the Holy City of Jerusalem,” the group declared in a letter to Secretary of State William P. Rogers. A copy of the letter, signed by William A. Wexler, chairman of the Conference of Presidents, was delivered this afternoon to George Bush, U.S. Ambassador to the UN.

“As American citizens and as Jews we call on our government to reject the cynical and contemptuous attempt by Jordan to raise false issues and level false charges in the UN Security Council against Israel’s administration of Jerusalem, ” the letter stated. It further noted that between 1949 and 1967 no religious bodies, national governments or international agencies including the UN, expressed concern about the denial of access for all Jews–and for their holy places and the desecration of Jewish cemeteries and synagogues during the Jordanian administration of the Old City.