Premier Yitzhak Rabin urged wider support for Israel through the Israel Bond Organization in a message today to 1000 Jewish leaders from the United States and Canada at the closing session of the three-day International Fall Leadership Campaign for Israel Bonds at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.
In a cable addressed to Sam Rothberg, general chairman, and Michael Arnon, president of the Bond Organization, Rabin stressed that increased economic strength is essential to help Israel consolidate its position during the coming year. “More than ever before, the health of our economy constitutes a major building block for the prospects of stability and peace,” Rabin’s message said.
Simcha Dinitz, Israel’s Ambassador to the United States, who was guest of honor at the closing dinner tonight, warned that Israel “cannot hope to maintain its freedom and independence if it is weak.” He pointed to Lebanon’s “sad experience” as proof that Israel must be strong to survive. “Israel cannot hope to overcome the campaign of terrorism, boycott and blockade that has been launched against her unless she is strong militarily, economically and morally. Our deterrent military capability and our economic strength are indivisible,” he said.
More than a score of film and television celebrities attended the Ambassador’s gala which climaxed a full day of sessions to inaugurate the fall drive of the Bond Organization in the Jewish community and in major segments of the financial and industrial world and among trade unions.
SPECIAL HIGH HOLIDAY EFFORTS
A total of more than $40 million in Israel Bond sales is expected to result from special efforts to be conducted in 1100 synagogues in the U.S. and Canada during the forthcoming High Holidays. Ze’ev Sher, Israel’s Economic Minister to the U.S., noted specific indicators of steady recovery in Israel’s economy. However, he cautioned, it will take some time for Israel to regain the annual average increase of up to 10 percent in its gross national product that prevailed before the Yom Kippur War.
Mayor Teddy Kollek of Jerusalem said last night that “all attempts by Arab extremists to sow the seeds of violence in Israel are doomed to failure,” and that united Jerusalem offers living proof that Arabs and Jews can live together in “neighborly relations.” Jerusalem’s experience since June 1967, Kollek said, “encourages us to hope that not merely co-existence, but mutual understanding, cooperation and true reconciliation can ultimately be achieved in Jerusalem, in Israel and in the entire Middle Eastern region.”
Arnon said that the conference was being held in Los Angeles for the first time in the history of the Israel Bond Organization to give recognition to the growing importance of the Jewish communities of the West Coast in the program for Israel’s economic development. He observed that the spirit of this weekend’s gathering “augered well for the attainment of increased support this year.”
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.
