An aide to Defense Minister Moshe Arens implicitly criticized American Jewish leaders today for not holding the annual General Assembly of the Council of Jewish Federations (CJF) in Israel.
The aide, Nachman Shai, Arens’ press spokesman, raised that matter with the Jewish Telegraphic Agency in defending Arens’ appearance last night before a convention here of the Moral Majority, a rightwing evangelical Christian group from the U.S. headed by Rev. Jerry Falwell.
Shai said Arens was “fully aware” of the controversial nature of the Moral Majority, the fundamentalist coalition which supports strongly conservative domestic policies in the U.S. and an uncompromising anti-Soviet foreign policy. But he decided to address the gathering nevertheless in appreciation of their holding their convention in Jerusalem, Shai said.
Noting that this coincided with the CJF’s 52nd General Assembly in Atlanta, Ga., Shai asked, “What stops the Federations meeting annually in Jerusalem?” The Moral Majority, he said, brought more than 500 committed supporters of Israel to Israel’s capital and it could fairly expect an Israeli leader of Arens’ stature to appear before it.
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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.
