AFL-CIO President George Meany was awarded the Zionist Organization of America’s Theodor Herzl Award last night at a gala dinner in his honor at the Washington Hilton. Standing in front of a picture of Herzl, Meany accepted the award on behalf of the American labor movement, citing the “special relationship” between the movement and Israel.
He said the Administration’s decision to link arms sales to Israel with those to Arab countries was “completely inconsistent with our long-term special relationship with Israel” and that it “very definitely indicates a shift in U.S.-Israeli relations. In submitting the arms package to the Congress, the Administration said in effect that the security of Israel has become negotiable,” Meany charged.
In prepared remarks, interrupted several times by applause, Meany said “I hope our government will help to keep Israel strong and free and that we will never again put Israel’s national security on the bargaining table. Israel’s right to exist in freedom must always be non-negotiable.” According to Meany, the appropriate role of the U.S. in the Middle East is that of “a mediator whose first job is to encourage direct negotiations between the parties. Our government’s role is not to attempt to impose a peace on the parties nor to determine the substance of their negotiating positions,” he said.
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.
