The second National Convention of the American Sephardi Federation (ASF), ended here this week with the adoption of resolutions concerning the Sephardi communities in the United States and Israel, the Mideast situation and the plight of Soviet and Syrian Jewry.
The two-day convention, held at Shearith Israel Synagogue, was attended by some 200 delegates from throughout the United States representing about 200,000 American Sephardi Jews. Mrs. Lilane Winn was elected as president, succeeding Prof. Daniel J. Elazar; Morrie Yohal was elected as chairman of the Board, replacing Haim S. Eliachar; and Mati Ronen was re-elected as executive director.
In the resolution on the Sephardi community in Israel, the ASF expressed concern that “considerable sections of Israel society still suffer from an inadequate standard and mode of life and are thus unable to enjoy their full rights of citizenship. The American Sephardi Federation is worried that the continuation of this state of affairs and the widening social gap will create discontent among different sections of society in the country and contribute to a lessening of the cohesion and unity of the nation at a time when these concepts are demanded more than ever.” The resolution also called on world Jewry to help solve the problems facing the Sephardi community in Israel.
Earlier, Baruch Levi, Premier Yitzhak Rabin’s advisor on social welfare told the convention that there is better awareness in Israel today of social problems and the economic gap between different segments of the society. “Premier Rabin is very much aware of this problem,” Levi said, adding that Rabin is now studying a special report prepared for him on the social problems of Israel and will be taking corrective measures.
U.S. SUPPORT FOR ISRAEL
In a resolution dealing with United States-Israel relations, ASF stated that the United States “has a continuing moral obligation to support Israel,” because “an economically and militarily secure Israel, negotiating from a position of strength, is added assurance that peace may one day emerge in the Mideast.” ASF also called on the American government “to continue its peace initiatives by bringing Israel and the Arab states together for direct negotiations, free of outside pressures and without any pre-conditions of withdrawal.”
In another resolution, ASF called upon President Ford and the Congress as well as United Nations Secretary General Kurt Waldheim to press the government of Syria and Iraq to cease the persecution of Jews living in those countries and to assist them in immigrating to Israel or elsewhere. ASF also urged the administration to set on behalf of Soviet Jewry.
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