Contributions totalling $2,563,000 for the Combined Jewish Appeal were announced at the inaugural dinner here attended by 300 guests and addressed by U.S. Solicitor General Simon E. Sobeloff. More than $1,000,000 was contributed at the dinner, David Borowitz, general chairman of the Appeal, announced. Approximately $1,500,000 of Combined Jewish Appeal funds this year, included in a total goal of $6,825,000, will be used for emergency immigration costs in 1956.
Mr. Sobeloff told the audience that tens of thousands of Jews in Arab lands of North Africa are clamoring for an opportunity to escape oppression. “The urgency is not to be denied,” he said. “The remedy is not one that can be delayed. The aim, which admits of no alternative, is to find a haven of refuge in the only country that will receive them willingly. Their survival depends on Israel keeping its door open, that in turn depends largely on us.
Mr. Sobeloff pointed out that Israel bears willingly and bravely the burden of its own defense. We cannot in these circumstances cast upon her overburdened shoulders the added responsibility of rescue, transportation and rehabilitation for 45,000 potential Jewish immigrants in Tunisia and Morocco now seeking entry into Israel,” he declared.
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