Israeli President Ephraim Katzir and his wife today concluded a nine-day visit which has been an unqualified personal success. Although private, the trip developed into a major demonstration of friendship between Israel and Britain and caused pride and satisfaction to Anglo-Jewry.
In the scientific field, in the political arena and in the Jewish community, the Israeli couple were the objects of warm expressions of admiration and affection. They themselves constantly remarked on how much they felt at home here and how, in Jewish gatherings, they felt part of “one warm, big family.” Since becoming President in 1973. Katzir has made only one other overseas trip — to the United States.
The depth of Anglo-Jewish feelings about Israel was clearly a personal elevation for Katzir. For the community itself, the first extended visit here by a President of the Jewish State gave rise to a festival atmosphere. It was heightened by the very favorable impression made by Katzir’s warm personal manner and his humane and humorous speeches.
The visit originated with an invitation to Katzir to take part in the symposium in honor of the 70th birthday of Sir Ernst Chain, the world famous biochemist who discovered the curative properties of penicillin for which he received the Nobel Prize. The invitation had come from Sir Ernst’s wife, herself a scientist, who had planned the symposium at the Royal Society without her husband’s knowledge.
On accepting the invitation, Katzir decided to use the visit to meet not only scientists but British political leaders and the Anglo-Jewish community. Hence the luncheons given by Queen Elizabeth and Prime Minister James Callaghan and with a host of Jewish groups. including youth movements and academics as well as Zionist and non-Zionist communal leaders. Mrs. Katzir was given a warm reception by WIZO, and visited a number of schools, Jewish and non-Jewish.
DISAPPOINTED BY LACK OF YOUTHS
The President also gained some critical impressions. He was disappointed by the small number of youngsters who belong to Zionist youth movements and also by the sharp infighting among these bodies. He also felt more should be done — by the Israeli side and locally — to foster the support of Jewish academics. “We have entered the Jews’ pockets but not your hearts and brains,” he told one group.
Jewish leaders, on the other hand, complained to him about the picture of Israel reflected in the Israeli and British press. He shared their view that newspapers often give the negative elements at the expense of positive ones. Historians of the future, he believes, will not be able to understand present-day Israel solely from reading today’s Israeli newspapers.
Journalists here repeatedly plied him with questions about when a member of Britain’s Royal Family will visit the Jewish State. However, he did not extend an invitation to the Queen, since such a matter would have to be dealt with on a different level. At the Windsor Castle. luncheon, the President was struck by the Queen’s knowledge of Israel and even about the scientific subjects in which he specialized. She had spoken to him, too, about the role of morality in politics. In his meetings with British politicians, he had been impressed by how much they wanted to regard Israel as a place of learning and high moral standards.
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.
