American Jewry, represented by some 2,500 prominent men and women from almost every element of organized Jewish life in the United States, assured Prime Minister Levi Eshkol tonight of moral support in the achievement of peace, and material support for Israeli economic programs in the coming year.
The pledges of unlimited aid to Israel were voiced by Edward Ginsberg of Cleveland, general chairman of the United Jewish Appeal, and Samuel Rothberg of Peoria, national campaign chairman of the Israel Bond Organization, who served as co-chairmen at a farewell dinner in honor of the Prime Minister and Mrs. Eshkol. The dinner, at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel, was sponsored by 55 national Jewish organizations. The Israel Bond Organization, the principal source of investment funds for economic development, and the UJA, which raises funds for immigration and settlement in Israel, have been the two foremost channels of major American Jewish aid to Israel. The large audience included prominent figures in Jewish communal affairs, business, public and academic life and the arts and sciences.
Mr. Eshkol, responding to the pledges, said that Israel had come out of the May-June crisis and war with “one central resolve” which was that “history cannot be pushed back; it must be pushed forward.” He reiterated Israel’s determination not to return “to what has been rightly described as fragile armistice” and “brittle arrangements” and to belligerence. He said Israel would cooperate fully in any moves toward “direct negotiations, leading to an unequivocal, unambiguous peace treaty.”
RIGHT OF JEWISH PEOPLE TO RETAIN PLACE IN HISTORY SEEN AT STAKE
What is at stake for Israel, he declared, “is the right of the Jewish people to retain its place in history. We think that we are no less entitled than anyone to have the right to live and build our lives without suffering, without being defenseless, without being dependent on the changing favor of others.”
He described his talks with President Johnson at the LBJ ranch in Texas last weekend as “good and thorough.” He extended thanks to American Jewry for its steadfast support of Israel in its hours of crisis.
The co-chairmen of the dinner were Mr. Ginsberg and Mr. Rothberg. Principal addresses were also delivered by Abraham Feinberg, president of the Israel Bond Organization and Max M. Fisher, president of the UJA. All, speaking on behalf of American Jewry, praised Mr. Eshkol’s leadership of the Jewish State, lauded Israel and its people, and pledged continued aid to Israel in all fields.
Mr. Ginsberg paid warm tribute to Mr. Eshkol’s leadership, and stressed the close ties which unite Jews of every land with the people of Israel. He pledged the fullest support by American Jews to Israel in facing all problems and all emergencies. Addressing the Prime Minister, Mr. Ginsberg said:
You come to us as the proven leader of that state and that people whose very existence is part of the fiber and substance of our own daily lives. There is no day when our hearts and thoughts do not turn to Israel. There is no day when the hope and the prayer for Israel’s well-being are not in those thoughts. What we did in June, through UJA’s Emergency Fund and through the sale of Israel Bonds, we will do again. The same love for Israel which poured out in June is still in our hearts.
“Step by step, problem by problem, need by need, and, if necessary, emergency by emergency, we will help you do what has to be done. We will do it as you have done it, by never losing sight of the final goal: the goal of a people reborn, in their own land, working and doing, making their full contribution to human advancement and the welfare of men everywhere, and living at last in security and peace.”
Mr. Rothberg introduced Mr. Eshkol as “a world statesman who has borne the mantle of leadership in Israel in its most critical hours of decision, a courageous champion of Israel’s freedom, a dynamic architect of its defense and economy, an inspiring symbol of its future, whose achievements have written an unforgettable chapter in the epic of Israel reborn.”
The Israel Bond leader stressed the role of Mr. Eshkol and the entire State of Israel in giving pride and self-respect to Jews everywhere, not only recently but throughout the entire 20 years of statehood. Addressing the Prime Minister, Mr. Rothberg said:
“In good times or bad, in war or peace, what you built you built for us, what you sacrificed you sacrificed for us. You fought our battle for dignity, for integrity, for self-respect.” He pointed out that Israel still faces many problems and many dangers in the immediate future, and added:
“In this moment of destiny, we must declare the renewal of our pledge and our commitment to stand by Israel as long as she needs us. We take this pledge as the greatest insurance for our own future as Jews as well as for the future of Israel.”
Mr. Fisher defined the forthcoming 20th anniversary of Israel as “one of the great triumphs of human freedom in today’s world.” Israel’s example, he said, has reminded people everywhere that “freedom is most precious, and that there are still men and women in the world who are prepared to fight to win freedom and defend it, with their lives if need be.”
“It was Israel of old and the Jewish people,” Mr. Fisher continued, “who gave to mankind the concept that men are born to be free under God. And now in our time we again see Israel showing by its example, by its courage, by its deeds, by its welcome of a million and a half refugees from oppression, by its refusal to give way to those who would destroy its liberty, that human freedom still has meaning and can be as precious to men as life itself.”
A special commemorative medal struck in gold by the American Israel Numismatic Society was presented to Mr. Eshkol by Mr. Ginsberg, on behalf of the organizations sponsoring the dinner. The medal bears a bas-relief portrait of the Israeli leader on the face, and on the back the inscription: “Six-Day War, 10 June 1967.”
The invocation at the dinner was offered by Rabbi Joseph H. Lookstein of Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun, New York, and the benediction by Rabbi Edward T. Sandrow, president of the New York Board of Rabbis. A musical tribute to Mr. Eshkol in the form of Jewish traditional and Israeli melodies was presented by Jan Peerce, tenor of the Metropolitan Opera Company. The national anthems of the United States and Israel were sung by Cantor Norman Atkins.
MEETS WITH RELIGIOUS GROUPS; COLORFUL CEREMONY AT CITY HALL
Mr. Eshkol met this afternoon at the Plaza Hotel with the leadership of the American Zionist movement. He was greeted by Mrs. Rose L. Halprin, chairman of the Jewish Agency-American section, who presided; and Rabbi Israel Miller, president of the American Zionist Council. Forty representatives of all branches of American Zionism head Mr. Eshkol outline the tasks ahead for Zionists, as he viewed them.
Gov. Nelson Rockefeller visited Mr. Eshkol at the hotel, and hailed the progress of Israel.
A ceremony was held at City Hall, where several hundred officials and well-wishers watched Mayor and Mrs. John Lindsay greet Premier and Mrs. Eshkol. A youth band played the national anthems of the United States and Israel, and the flags of the two countries were flown. The Lindsays and the Eshkols exchanged gifts.
Several hundred faculty members and students at the Jewish Theological Seminary listened to remarks by the Premier during a brief visit to the Conservative seminary this afternoon. Other students watched the event on closed circuit television. Mr. Eshkol was greeted by Chancellor Louis Finkelstein.
A delegation of the Synagogue Council of America, headed by President Philip Rudin, met with the Prime Minister today. Rabbi Rudin told Mr. Eshkol that the overwhelming support of American Jews to Israel in the crisis and war last summer had prompted the SCA to join in a convocation to explore the religious meaning of modern Israel.
Rabbi Rudin told Mr. Eshkol that the convocation will be held at Columbia University, February 22, and that it was inspired by reports from rabbis throughout the United States that, on the Saturday before war broke out on June 5, synagogues were filled to capacity by Jews seeking to give expression to their feelings of concern over the threat to Israel’s existence. The SCA represents the congregational and rabbinical organizations of Reform, Conservative and Orthodox Judaism.
Among other events honoring Mr. Eshkol was a luncheon tendered for him by the editorial board of The New York Times. The International Council of Women gave a luncheon in honor of Mrs. Eshkol.
After spending eight days in the United States, Mr. Eshkol was due to leave tomorrow for Canada. He will visit the Jewish communities in Toronto and Montreal, then confer in the capital, Ottawa, with Canadian Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson.
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