Aubrey S. Eban, in a radio address to the 500 delegates attending the 26th annual convention of Hapoel Hamizrachi here, declared last night that “it is not to the credit of world Jewry that 65,000 newcomers in Israel are languishing in camps, suffering indescribable privations.” The chief delegate of Israel to the United Nations emphasized that “this year is not one of relaxation,” adding that there is “still great pressure on Israel.”
S.Z. Shragai, member of the Jewish Agency executive committee and one of the Israeli leaders of Hapoel Hamizrachi, called upon the countries in the Soviet bloc of Europe to open their doors for the free emigration of Jews to Israel.
“As the first country to grant full recognition to the Jewish state,” he said, “Russia should not now prevent Israel from welcoming within its borders hundreds of thousands of Europe’s Jews who find it impossible to rebuild their lives on the graveyards of their massacred kin.” He added that Israel’s survival depended on its ability to stand alone and maintain strict neutrality. “The Jewish people have not regained their independence after 2,000 years of subjugation only to become the pawn of any world power,” he said.
In his presidential address, Dr. Henry Raphael Gold declared that the “driving power behind the reborn state of Israel is not primarily nationalistic self-assertion, but a determined hope to translate into living fact the prophetic idea of a society based on true social justice. Out of Israel is bound to come a Magna Carta of truly human relations, based on prophetic justice,” he declared. Dr. Gold also announced the launching of a $250,000 housing project in Israel to be sponsored by the Jewish Agency, Hapoel Hamizrachi and the Federation of Marmorash Jews in the U.S.
Chaim Chanowitz, executive director, reported a membership increase of 300 percent in the last two years. He revealed that Chief Chaplain of the Israeli Army, Col. L. Goronchack, appealed to Hapoel Hamizrachi to send Scrolls of the Law for use in the Israeli Army and in new colonies. Messages were received from Chief Rabbi of Israel Dr. Isaac Halevi Herzog, Israeli Minister of Immigration Moshe Shapira, Mayor William O’Dwyer and others.
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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.
