The Jewish Agency in Jerusalem called today on Jews to make aliya and to strengthen the Jewish state – “not in Zur, Sidon and Beirut – but in Camniel, Efrat and Jerusalem.”
In a cable to the Agency’s New York Office, Raphael Kotlowitz, Chairman of the Immigration and Absorption department in Jerusalem, urged “our people abroad” to draw new motivation for aliya from the courage and pursuit of peace that Israel has demonstrated in its relations with Egypt and “the heroic deeds” performed in Lebanon by Israeli “boys who hate war.”
But the statement stressed that Jewish immigrants should seek to direct its contributions to civilian life, rather than expect to be involved in the fighting in Lebanon. “Our army may not need you – our Land does,” the statement said.
Saying that Israel was in the midst of a “war for peace,” the statement added “Israel is a country and a people to be proud of. But we would like to be as strong in peace as we are in war. For that we need you to come, settle in our land, become part of us.”
Moshe Schechter, head of the aliya department of the Jewish Agency in New York, said the stress on Israel’s need for contributions to the country’s civilian life was a response to the many queries received in recent days by Jews seeking to enlist in the Israeli army, in light of the fighting in Lebanon.
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