Dr. Nahum Goldmann, president of the World Jewish Congress, said last night that Israel must take the initiative for peace with its neighbors because the status quo “is not good for us.” He said he did not advocate peace at any price but felt that a minimum price must be set and “the initiative for that must come from Israel.”
Dr. Goldmann spoke at a “Road to Peace” symposium sponsored by the monthly magazine “New Outlook.” The veteran Zionist leader, who has aroused controversy in the past for his sharp criticism of certain Israeli policies, said the current situation of no war-no peace was detrimental to Israel and could not be allowed to continue much longer. “It does not have the advantage of the challenge of war and it does not have the advantage of a peace situation,” he said.
The image of Israel is in danger among intellectuals and progressive elements who were always pro-Israel to a great extent but are now drifting away from us he said. “For too long we have rested on the credit given us because of the holocaust. Now our supporters are disappointed and ask themselves if another Lebanon has emerged on the Middle East map,” Dr. Goldmann said.
He chided Israel for becoming a conformist society where in the past it had always been non-conformist. “The task the Jewish State has assumed is to become the guardian of Jewish values and culture,” he said, but it cannot carry out the task “as long as there is no peace and almost all efforts are devoted to security.”
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