Eban Keynotes Chicago Juf Inaugural

The 1975 Jewish United Fund drive was launched last week with the most successful single fund-raising meeting in its history. About 900 top campaign leaders and contributors announced gifts totalling $12,746,800 at a Special Gifts Inaugural Dinner, after Abba Eban asked them to “share the burdens of Israel…in this perilous hour.” These gifts showed a significant increase over the 1974 record-breaking contributions at this stage.

General campaign chairman Leonard H. Sherman and special gifts chairman Morton A. Blitstein lauded the community’s response. Earlier Sherman had urged the huge gathering at the Pick Congress Hotel to “give not only from their income, but from their capital as well.” Calling upon the assembled community leaders to rally to the support of Israel and their own. Chicago, community, Sherman asked: “Do we not all believe that all Jews are responsible, one for another?” adding, “Jewish survival knows no national boundaries and there is no place in the world today where there are no Jews struggling for survival.”

Comparing the services provided for Soviet immigrants, the aged and the poor in Israel and in Chicago, Sherman pointed out that “here in Chicago we have thousands of impoverished Jews.” He spoke about the Chicago Federation’s broad spectrum of services for the aged, the poor and the young–stressing the importance of Jewish education. A mini-concert by Soviet-Jewish pianist Vladimir Leyetchkiss was a special feature on the program. Leyetchkiss, a recent immigrant to Chicago, is being assisted in resettlement by agencies of the Jewish Federation, a major JUF beneficiary.

ARAB UNDERDOG IMAGE IS LUDICROUS

In his address, Eban stated that the current Mideast impasse is due to contrary conceptions of Middle East history; a monolithic pan-Arab view versus the mosaic Israeli view that the region is one of diversity and the rightful home of many nations and religions. “There will never be a Middle East without the sovereign state of Israel. The question of whether the Arabs are to have 20 or 21 states is morally inconsequential compared to the question of whether the Jews are to have one state,” Eban said, claiming it was ludicrous for the Arabs numbering 100,000,000 people to cast themselves as underdogs when they possess 60 percent of the world’s known oil reserves and will soon have 70 percent of its currency reserves.

Israel’s greatest problem today is the gnawing doubt that she is unable to protect herself, Eban said. This is because the Arab assets are tangible, whereas those of Israel–social cohesion, discipline and the solidarity of Jews throughout the world–are not. He admitted that Israel could not maintain a “viable balance” (of power) without the support of Jews in other lands. “Their support enlarges the dimensions of Israel, culturally, historically and economically. It is the (only) answer to Moslem solidarity established for the purpose of Israel’s destruction,” he said.