American Jewish Journalists in Israel on ‘study Mission’ Pleased with Tour but Also Critical

A group of 25 American-Jewish journalists and public relations personnel left for home today generally satisfied with their nine-day “study mission” in Israel, arranged and conducted by the American Zionist Federation and the Jewish Agency’s Organization and Information Department. But some of the editors, whose papers serve Jewish communities in various parts of the U.S., were critical of certain aspects of the tour.

Charles Baumohl, managing editor of the Jewish News of Newark, N.J., complained that there were too few bona fide newsmen and too many officials and public relations people in the party which, he said, lent the whole tour an unprofessional air. Albert W. Bloom, executive editor of the Jewish Chronicle of Pittsburgh, said the tour was “enormously rewarding” but complained that the visitors got “short shrift in exposure to top news makers.”

Joseph Hochstein, editor and publisher of the Jewish Week in Washington, observed that it was “absurd and frustrating” to have “off-the-record” briefings with more than two dozen people in the room. Nora Levin, a free lance journalist from Philadelphia, spoke of the “palpable antagonism” noticeable at a dinner the group attended with local Israeli journalists. Many other participants complained that the program was too crowded and that they had little time to get their notes in order.

At the closing dinner last night, Avraham Schenker, director of the Jewish Agency’s information department urged the journalists to publicize his department’s activities in smaller Jewish communities around the world. The group met with Cabinet ministers and various other officials, with former Premier David Ben-Gurion and with recent emigres from the Soviet Union.