Elmer Winter. president of the American Jewish Committee, arrived here Monday to prepare for the 10-day Annual Institute of the AJCommittee’s Board of Governors which opens here this Friday. It will be the first time that the prestigious human relations organization will hold a meeting of its major policy-making body in Israel. The meeting, to be attended by about 100 delegates and national officers, will celebrate the 70th anniversary of the founding of the AJCommittee.
Winter said the purpose of selecting Israel as the site of this milestone meeting was to demonstrate the AJCommittee’s support for Israel’s struggle for peace and its efforts to achieve a secure and viable democratic society. He said he hoped that through visits, interviews and consultations with Israeli leaders, the organization would increase its understanding of some of the difficult and troublesome issues in the political, economic and social arena in Israel.
Winter will meet with Finance Ministry officials during the week of the meeting to discuss the Arab boycott issue and plans he has developed to increase American investments in Israeli industry.
Between working sessions, the AJCommittee Board will hold meetings with President Ephraim Katzir, Premier Yitzhak Rabin, Foreign Minister Yigal Allon, U.S. Ambassador Malcolm Toon and Mayor Teddy Kollek of Jerusalem.
Bertram H. Gold, executive vice-president of the AJCommittee in New York, said a further purpose of the meeting in Israel is to “provide Israeli leaders with the AJCommittee’s views and positions on Israel’s actions and policies as they relate to the American scene.” He mentioned such issues as Israeli-Arab relations, the Palestinian problem and relations between American Jews and Israel.
The AJCommittee Board of Governors will also participate in a variety of events aimed at establishing better relations between the American Jewish community and Israel. Social functions are planned at the Hebrew University which cooperates with the AJCommittee in an annual seminar-in-Israel program for young American academicians, and at Haifa University which cooperates with the AJCommittee in sponsoring the Academy for Jewish Studies.
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