American Christian Students Arrive in Israel for Biblical Studies

Twenty post-graduate students of various America Protestant denominations arrived in Israel today for the first course at the newly-established Institute of Biblical Studies in Jerusalem.

Arriving under the leadership of Dr. Douglas Young, the American college and seminary graduates will hear lectures on subjects connected with Bible, archaeology and the history of the Middle East by American professors as well as Israel scholars.

Prof. Abraham Kutzuki, 62, is due to arrive from Tokyo today to undergo the ceremony of conversion to Judaism in Jerusalem. Among Kutzuki’s Hebrew students was the Japanese Emperor’s younger brother. During the war Kutzuki rescued numerous Jews from Fascist hands, including the family of Zorach Warhaftig, a member of the Knesset and a former Deputy Minister for Religious Affairs.

A group of 100 boys and girls from 12 different countries, today completed Jewish Agency courses for youth leaders, while a second group embarked on a tour of settlements and immigrant centers. Graduates of leadership courses from halutz and general youth movements came from the United States, Canada, South Africa, Australia, Algeria, Iran, France, Belgium, Switzerland and Italy.

An audience of about 1,600 youths from various countries was addressed here by Abba Eban, former Israel Ambassador to the United States, at a rally sponsored by the Jewish Agency. The youths are now in Israel on various work-and-study projects.

Mr. Eban expressed the opinion that, "in the present age of nuclear tensions, the Great Powers will not tolerate any attempts to force any fundamental change in the structure of the Middle East." The diplomat warned, however, that "the dictator on the Nile" is "again threatening to push Israel into the sea.", "If he tries," said Mr. Eban, "he may end up being pushed into the sand."