Menachem Beigin, leader of the Likud opposition in Israel, warned here last night that any withdrawal by Israel from the territories occupied in the 1967 Six-Day War will mean that any chance for peace will be destroyed forever. He declared that only an “invincible Israel” will bring peace. He claimed that “our enemies continue to strive to destroy us” and called on Jews to “set ourselves free from the illusion” that the Arabs want to make peace with Israel.
Beigin spoke at the inaugural dinner of the Israel Prime Minister’s Club in the New York metropolitan area at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. More than $3,870,000 in Israel Bonds were sold for the event in which 100 members were inducted. The induction ceremony brought to 276 the number of founder members in the New York area, each of whom buy a minimum of $25,000 in Israel Bonds during one year.
The 250 communal, civil and religious Jewish leaders attending the ceremony were told by Beigin that if Israel returned the West Bank, the civilian centers of Israel would be an easy target for Arab artillery and this would result in a holocaust upon Israel’s population centers. He said the Arabs now have much more sophisticated arms and soldiers than they had before the Six-Day War, and if this power was brought to the pre-1967 lines it “will be disastrous.”
VICTIMS WERE SHOT IN HEART, HEAD
Referring to the Kiryat Shemona massacre, Beigin said the Arabs want to kill all Israelis. “They want to destroy us man, woman and child,” he said. He revealed that the autopsies of the children murdered by the terrorists in Kiryat Shemona revealed they had bullets in the heart and in the head. Beigin declared that there is no such place as Palestine, “there is only Eretz Israel.” He said that the Palestinians must learn that Israel wants to live with them in peace and brotherhood.
Speaking about prospects for the future, the Likud leader said he brings “a message of optimism from Israel” and predicted that out of the present crisis in Israel will come a great salvation. He called for the unity of the Jewish people. “Let us stand together,” he said, “and then no enemy could destroy us.”
Stephen Shalom, a leader of the Jewish Syrian Sephardic community in Brooklyn, was installed as the first president of the metropolitan region’s Prime Minister’s Club. A member of the national cabinet of the Israel Bond Organization, he serves on the executive committee of the Greater New York campaign. Jack D. Weiler, secretary-treasurer of the Israel Bond Organization and national president of the Prime Minister’s Club conducted the installation ceremonies. A special scroll, designed and made in Israel, was given to each founder member. The dinner event, which also marked Israel’s 26th anniversary, was sponsored by the Greater NY Committee for Israel Bonds.
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