More than 650 rabbis of the three branches of American Judaism – Orthodox, Conservative and Reform – from all parts of the country signed a call addressed to American Jewry urging “our fellow American Jews to identify themselves with the program and activities of the Zionist Organization of America, and through such Zionist affiliation, to ensure Israel’s development and Jewish survival.”
“We must organize public opinion, strengthen America-Israel friendship, mobilize economic support for Israel, conduct an intensive program of Zionist education, rally Jewish youth under the Zionist banner, and strengthen the cultural and spiritual bridge between Israel and American Jewry,” the rabbis’ appeal said.
The call, which was made public by Mortimer May, president of the ZOA, points out that “Israel’s increasing isolation in this eighth year of her independence is a cause for the most profound concern throughout the free world. Confronted by the constant threat of renewed Arab aggression, assailed by totalitarian rulers, and not yet included in the security arrangements of her friends in the West, Israel urgently needs our fullest support,” the call said.
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