Israelis Mark Independence Day in a Relaxed Mood

Israelis celebrated the 31st anniversary of independence in a relaxed mood today. Possibly reflecting the fact that their nation was finally at peace with at least one of its neighbors, the emphasis this Independence Day was on family and social gatherings rather than mass rallies and parades.

Youngsters took to the seashore last night to sing and dance around bon-fires. Their elders attended parties, mostly at the homes of family or friends. Some hotels offered Independence Day dinners with entertainment. Today saw a mass exodus of families from the cities with picnic baskets. The beaches, woodlands and parks were jammed. By 10 a.m. police announced that all parking spaces at recreation areas were filled.

Security measures were tightened, as is the case on every Independence Day. Only one security-related incident was reported. In Dimona an explosive device was found under the platform in the main square where the mayor and town councilmen were scheduled to speak. It was safely dismantled by police sappers. The only sour note of the day was the absence of life guards from the beaches. The lifeguards, currently engaged in a wage dispute, decided to take the day off like the rest of. the citizens.

Premier Menachem Begin delivered his Independence Day address on radio and television last night. It was less a political speech than an appeal to Israelis to improve the quality of life in the country in order to attract more immigrants, especially from the West “Why cannot we be as clean as the Swiss?” Begin asked. “In Switzerland no one drops even a cigarette butt on the street and if someone finds a butt he stoops to pick it up and put it in the bin.” He also called on Israelis to improve their manners and mode conduct toward one another.

The Premier announced a Cabinet decision to freeze all public building — except in Jerusalem, for hospitals, and for Project Renewal — in order to channel manpower and resources towards homes for young couples and for poorly housed families, as well as for immigrants, Housing would be “at the top of our list of priorities,” Begin pledged. “I know the Minister of Housing (David Levy) will be doing his utmost to salve the problems.” Begin foresaw “tens of thousands” of new homes being built in the coming 30 months.

JEWS IN THE USSR, ARAB LANDS

Discussing Soviet Jewry, Begin said some 50,000 Jews would be leaving the USSR this year. He stated that the situation of Soviet Jews who decide to go to countries other than Israel after applying for visas to Israel is “a serious and negative phenomenon, and we shall try to put an end to it” so that all or most of them would come to Israel. If a similar number came from the West, “we could reach 100,000 a year — which should be the annual minimum,” Begin said.

He promised to continue efforts to secure the release of Prisoners of Zion still incarcerated in Soviet jails and to achieve free exit rights for all Soviet Jews who sought them. Begin said that President Carter had pledged to continue his efforts, too, to achieve those goals.

“Nor have we forgotten our brothers in Syria,” Begin declared. “We cannot understand the sadism” that keeps them “in a ghetto, living in fear.” It would need only a few plane flights to bring the 4000 remaining members of that ancient community to freedom, he stated.

Israel was giving its friends in the West “no rest” in its persistent efforts to achieve Syrian Jewry’s release, and, Begin added, the government had tried and was trying to secure the aliya of the entire Falasha community of Ethiopia, although here, as in the case of Syria, he could not publicize the details of efforts that were being made.

Referring to the voyage of the Ashdod, the first Israeli-flag ship to be allowed through the Suez Canal, Begin said its enthusiastic welcome by ordinary Egyptians on the banks of the waterway proved that “the people of Egypt, not just their honored President or their government, truly want peace.” (Other Independence Day events, P.3)