A delegation of 25 leaders of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations left last night for Israel where they will confer with top government officials, military commanders and Jewish Agency spokesmen. Rabbi Israel Miller, chairman of the Conference of Presidents, headed the leadership mission, whose four-day visit will include meetings with Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. Foreign Minister Yigal Allon, Defense Minister Shimon Peres, Finance Minister Yehoshua Rabinowitz, Army Chief of Staff Mordecai Gur, Air Force Commander Benjamin Peled, Jewish Agency Chairman Pinhas Sapir and President Ephraim Katzir.
In a statement explaining the purpose of the mission, Rabbi Miller declared: “We are coming to Israel to take common counsel with its leaders on the issues that confront the people of Israel and” the Jews of America, including the military and economic strength of the Jewish State as an essential element of the Middle East and the situation confronting Jews in the USSR and in Syria. We will be exchanging views as well on the effort to build understanding of Israel’s cause among the makers of public opinion and public policy in America.”
Still another purpose of the visit. Rabbi Miller said, “will be to express our unity with Israel and to voice our faith in its government and its people. We will bring with us a message of solidarity not only from American Jews but also from millions of Americans of every race, religion and ethnic origin, who demonstrated by their support of our great rally against Arab terror on November 4 that the American people reject the Palestine Liberation Organization’s call for the destruction of Israel and repudiate the action of the UN in turning the General Assembly into a forum for murderers.”
Many of the members of the Presidents Conference mission to Israel met last week with President Ford. In that meeting, the President reaffirmed America’s commitment to Israel’s integrity. “In our meetings with Israel’s political, military and social welfare leaders, we will both listen and speak,” Rabbi Miller stated. “We expect our conversations to be beneficial to us when we return to the U.S. and useful to the leaders of Israel as they adopt policies and draw plans to interpret those policies.”
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.
