Chaim Herzog, Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations, last night called the 15-point program adopted by the Palestine National Council in Cairo “a formula for nothing less than the destruction of Israel in stages.” He stressed that “in pursuance of our historic role, we will fight it with all the means at our disposal.”
Addressing the 75th anniversary banquet of Mizrachi-Hapoel Hamizrachi at the Waldorf-Astoria, Herzog said that despite the unequivocal statement by the Palestine Liberation Organization body, he expected leading newspapers and even Jewish and Israeli spokesmen to label the Palestine National Council’s statement as moderate and suggest “in fact, the PLO doesn’t mean what it says.”
The Israeli envoy noted that the PLO has again rejected UN Security Council Resolution 242 as a basis for peace while evoking General Assembly Resolution 3236. “This resolution, which was opposed not only by Israel, but by the United States and rejected by many of the free countries in the world, is in fact a formula for the destruction of the State of Israel. If there was still any doubt as to the attitude of the PLO they voted to escalate the military, political and economic struggle against Israel and against any form of peace with Israel.”
Mayor Abraham Beame, who shared the plat- form with Herzog, told the gathering: “We were all deeply wounded when terrorists held an entire Jewish service organization hostage in Washington and used national television to utter unspeakable slurs against the Jewish people. Such an atrocity confirms our knowledge that we must continue our vigilant defense of Israel. Thankfully, we learned long ago never again to accept the role of scapegoat or victim.”
JERUSALEM IS NOT NEGOTIABLE
Rabbi Arthur Schneier, spiritual leader of the Park East Synagogue and chairman of the anniversary celebration, warned that “At the time when Israel’s retreat to the pre-1967 borders is increasingly mentioned by Washington officialdom, we should be in the forefront of energizing American Jewry and the American people to the sanctity of Jerusalem. On the eve of the 10th anniversary of the reunification of Jerusalem let the voice go forth that the fate of Jerusalem is not negotiable. It will always remain the united city and the indivisible capital of the State of Israel.”
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.
