The Jewish Society of Americanists, a group considered as working in close cooperation with the Birch Society, ended a two-day convention here with a strong endorsement of Israel’s victory in the war this month and of Israel’s “stated intention” to maintain “the territorial fruits of victory” until the Arabs agreed to direct negotiations with Israel.
In one of several resolutions on the Middle East adopted at the convention, the group hailed Israel’s Middle East policies as rebuffs to Communism. The resolution called the Arab attacks “aggression” launched by forces “instigated, armed and encouraged by the Communist empire,” The resolution said that in token of the Americanists’ support, the organization was buying an Israel Defense Bond.
The Americanists “strongly” advised Israel to reject all U.N. efforts “to interfere in the Middle East or to impose false solutions hostile to the interests of Israel and the free world.” The resolution also called on Israel and Jordan to undertake “serious negotiations” and to overcome their differences to create “an anti-Communist bloc of free states in the Middle East.”
The convention endorsed the voluntary school prayer amendment proposed by Sen. Everett Dirksen, the Republican minority leader. The resolution said that “our Jewish faith has always held that religious awareness must permeate all facets of life” and expressed hope for “an early return of non-sectarian prayer and Bible readings in our public schools,” a position totally opposed to the official position of virtually all other Jewish organizations.
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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.
