More than 100 delegates from all sections of the United States attended the two-day session of the executive committee of the American Jewish Committee at the Hotel Astor here, which concluded today after hearing reports on Israel by members of an A.J.C delegation which recently returned from a visit to the Jewish state undertaken at the invitation of Premier David Ben Gurion.
Addressing the meeting last night, Jacob Blaustein, president of the Committee and leader of the delegation, said that the primary step in solving the pressing economic and rehabilitation problems in Israel is the establishment of lasting peace between the Jewish state and its Arab neighbors.
Touching on the new state’s economic problems, he said: “In addition to large voluntary contributions from the United States and other countries such as through the United Jewish Appeal, help must come in the form of additional large foreign government loans, and particularly–and this is most important–through the creation of new enterprises by American and other industrialists with capital and know-how. It is obvious that the latter will require whole-hearted encouragement on the part of the Israeli Government.”
Irving M. Engel, chairman of the A.J.C. executive committee, who also visited Israel as a member of the organization’s delegation, declared that “greatest variety exists in the cultural background of the Israeli people, ranging from the Yemenite Jews “who have “been living with nomadic Arab tribes for 3,000 years, to the scientists at the Weizmann Institute. Israel has more scientists per 1,000 population than any other country in the world. The standard of living of a man in China and the life expectancy of the average American may well be improved by the work now being done at the Institute,” he added.
Dr. John Slawson, executive vice-president of the Committee, told the executive committee that “a greet service can be rendered by American organizations–private and public–by bringing to the Israelis authentic information about America, its basic democratic tenets, its educational systems, and its daily struggle to preserve its democracy. Equally, Israel should seek to bring to America and the Western world its own unique cultural and. religious contributions, its pioneering experimentation and cooperative ventures in agriculture and industry, its methods of integrating peoples from” all parts of the globe into one unified nation with equal rights to all inhabitants.”
Other speakers at the parley included Dr. William Haber, former advisor on Jewish affairs to the U.S. command in Europe, Ben Herzberg, Alan Stroock, Gustave M. Berns and Dr. Salo W. Baron.
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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.
