The international president of B’nai B’rith Women last night defended the United Nations against critics who claim the Israeli-Arab crisis proved its ineffectiveness in global affairs. Mrs. Arthur G. Rosenbluth told delegates at the closing session of the annual convention of B’nai B’rith District 7 here that, despite “strong reservations” over recent U.N. action in the Middle East, Americans must not forget that “hundreds, thousands, and perhaps tens of thousands of lives would have been lost if the United Nations had not been present to help institute a cease-fire,” for the Arab-Israeli war.
Mrs. Rosenbluth said that the agreement ending the conflict could not have been negotiated “so swiftly” were it not for the U.N., since it provided the Soviet Union with an agency to “run to when it saw the fighting was going against the Arabs.” Absence of the U.N., she said, might have compelled Russia to enter the war directly.
Those who are unhappy at the way the U.N. functions, added Mrs. Rosenbluth, should note that “the answer is not to abandon it, but to strengthen 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.
