Alarmed by the prospect that Israel’s people may soon find themselves under attack by Arab forces heavily armed with superior Communist weapons, supporters of the United Jewish Appeal today brought forward $28,500,000 in individual contributions to launch the UJA’s 1956 nationwide campaign. William Rosenwald, general chairman of the UJA, termed this outpouring of gifts “the greatest starting sum ever given to an American philanthropic cause. “He said it represented a barometer showing the widespread concern for Israel’s survival.
The outflow of advance gifts terminated the final session of a two-day national inaugural conference of the UJA with more than 650 campaign leaders and contributors in attendance. Their response came after a warning from Dr. Giora Josephthal, treasurer of the Jewish Agency, that “mounting Egyptian military superiority ultimately will express itself either in full-scale aggression against Israel or in a hit-and-run aerial attack that will decimate us in the thousands.”
“Does anybody think that Egypt is getting Communist arms in order to fight the Communists?” he asked. In the light of this, he said, Israel must spend $50,000,000 beginning immediately for non-military preparations in behalf of its civilian population. He listed the following needs, for which he pointed out Israel is short of funds:
1. The stockpiling of food and fuel in the event that Israel is cut off by sea or its internal communications are disrupted, as was the case of Jerusalem during the Arab invasion of 1948.
2. The building of auxiliary power stations and their dispersal throughout the country to augment existing facilities.
3. The construction of air raid shelters by the thousands in cities, villages and agricultural settlements, many of the latter in tense frontier areas.
Dr. Josephthal, who is also head of the Jewish Agency’s immigration and absorption department, pointed out that the $50,000,000 civilian protection program is in addition to Israel’s “acute need of $50,000,000 worth of defense weapons. “He asserted that “while UJA dollars are not for arms, we hope that they will come to us in generous amounts for the vital, humanitarian safeguarding of civilian lives, especially of our recent immigrants.
Rabbi Herbert A. Friedman, executive vice-chairman of the UJA, pointed out that the $28,500,000 given here today was in response to this year’s two goal campaign, with $19,200,000 contributed toward the regular drive and $9,300,000 brought forward as over and above” contributions for the Appeal’s Special Survival Fund. The special fund has a goal of $25,000,000 plus and is intended for the exclusive financing in Israel of resettlement programs in behalf of the tens of thousands of Jews streaming in from Tunisia and Morocco.
Rabbi Friedman termed it “urgent and imperative” that all others now come forward in the same spirit of generosity as was demonstrated today at the conference. “Ordinary concern and ordinary giving, ” he declared,” cannot and will not meet today’s extraordinary needs.
The UJA executive head pointed out that nearly two million lives are involved directly and indirectly in the success of this year’s campaign, Israel’s population of 1,650,000 most of all. “Israel’s people,” he told the UJA conferees, “are threatened today as they have not been since the days of Hitler. The Arabs are not merely calling for war against Israel, like Hitler, they are calling for extermination.”
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
