M. J. Caldwell, leader of the Cooperative Common-wealth Federation, who has recently returned from a two-week visit to Israel, believes that Canada should give all possible encouragement to Israel, through trade, including wheat, additional UN technical aid, and possibly even under the Colombo Plan. Other points made by Mr. Caldwell at a press conference here were:
1. He lauded the work of Canadian General E.L.M. Burns as UN truce supervisor in Israel for doing “really effective work” in bringing about a lessening of tension with the neighboring Arab states.
2. Israel enjoys fine leadership in the building of a new state with the people prepared to forego profits and put up with hardships of all kinds; Israel is the one outpost of democracy in the Middle East whose influence may spread beneficially in that strategic area.
3. The country, devoted to peace, faces stupendous tasks, including the building up of expert trade in such items as oranges, phosphates, bananas, cotton. The democratic Socialists, through their Histadrut cooperative organization, are doing great work in Israel.
Mr. Caldwell reported that he saw little or no evidence of any anti-British feeling in Israel. “If Israel can get cooperation from Syria on joint use of the waters of the River Jordan, the country might, ultimately, support a population as high as 4,000,000 compared with the present 1, 700, 000 population including 200, 000 Arabs,” he said.
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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.
