A total of $1,500,000 in cash was presented by delegates at the mid-winter conference of the National Committee for Labor Israel which was held here at the Hotel Commodore today as the first phase of the 1966 Israel Hstadrut Campaign came to a close. The conference resolved to raise an additional $3,500,000 by the end of the year.
Principal speakers at the session were Mayor John V. Lindsay, Israel Ambassador Avraham Harman, and Dr. Jacob Maitlis, of London, Referring to Israel, Mayor Lindsay said: “What is the secret of Israel’s success? There is no doubt that part of the answer is that there existed in the country a huge voluntary organization, blessed with a dynamic leadership and inspired membership that assumed the lion’s share of the responsibility for the welfare of the people, whether under the old Mandatory regime or within the framework of even a truly democratic nation such as Israel has been from the very beginning. “
Ambassador Harman declared: “Israel approaches her 18th birthday, she is still burdened by a tremendous security budget that is made necessary by the absence of peace in the Middle East. The costs of military hardware continue to soar daily, to the detriment not only of Israel but of the Arab countries too. Israel asks for and is prepared to sit down any time, anywhere, to hammer out a lasting peace between herself and her neighbors. Such a peace would open up new opportunities for the entire region to advance economically and provide for all the peoples increased education, medical services, better housing and a richer life in general. In war or in peace, Histadrut is one of the most important assets of Israel.”
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
