Sen. John Heinz (R. Pa.) charged today that the Soviet Union is “engaged in an attempt to spiritually annihilate all that is Judaic.”
Heinz, addressing the opening session of the 83rd national convention of the Zionist Organization of America, told the 500 delegates assembled to pay tribute to ZOA president Ivan Novick that “Just 40 years after the Nazi attempt to exterminate the Jewish people, as we honor the memory of those who died in the Holocaust, the government of the USSR is heightening its attempt to totally destroy Soviet Jewry.
“If it can be said that Nazi extermination camps were an effort to physically remove the Jewish people from the face of the earth, then the Soviets are engaged in an attempt to spiritually annihilate all that is Judaic,” Heinz declared.
“Our commitment to Israel,” he said, “rests on our moral determination that history never be allowed to repeat itself. People who have forgotten their history may not wish Israel ill, but neither do they commit themselves clearly to Israel’s right to exist. And because precisely so many people today have forgotten the challenge of re-affirming that right, achieving an enduring Middle East peace becomes more and more difficult each day.”
THE OBSTACLE TO PEACE
Novick, who also addressed the convention opening, insisted that “It is Arab refusal to accept and recognize Israel which is the obstacle to peace.” He urged the U.S. government to convince the Arabs to be realistic if they truly intend to have peace.
According to Novick, “Israel is ready for direct negotiations, the Arabs are not. Israel is branded as inflexible, and the Arabs can sit back and wait for the U.S. to lean on Israel for more concessions. I believe that it is time that the Administration come to grips with the reality that this approach does not address the most vital elements which are the obstacles to peace,” Novick said.
“This is the time for the United States to reinforce its relationship with Israel. Let the President send the Arabs a message which says: “We will make Israel militarily stronger, economically more powerful and concentrate our primary efforts in the area of creating a bridge of friendship and cooperation between Israel, Lebanon and Egypt. And hopefully, at an early date, the King of Jordan will also find the courage to join this union of nations who may not love each other but intend to live with each other.”
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.
