An urgent appeal to the United States Government to “abandon intricate diplomatic maneuvers” and conclude immediately a mutual security treaty with Israel was made here last night by Dr. Nahum Goldmann, chairman of the Jewish Agency, addressing the three-day national conference of the Jewish National Fund.
The world head of the Zionist movement told the JNF delegates that an American security pact with Israel “would have an immediate sobering effect on the Arab states” and would “force upon them the realization that their morbid dream of a second round of war with Israel is futile.”
Dr. Goldmann asserted that the “interests of the United States and the interests of-Israel at this critical moment are more than parallel — they are identical and indivisible. We urge the immediate offer of a United States security treaty to Israel as the most realistic step to stabilize the Middle East situation,” Dr. Goldmann said.
Dr. Goldmann spoke at a testimonial dinner given by the Jewish National Fund in honor of Dr. Abraham Granott, world chairman of the J. N. F. who is here on a visit from Jerusalem. Dr. Goldmann declared that “a grave political crisis for Israel now exists as a result of Czechoslovakia’s agreement to ship substantial arms supplies to Egypt and by the Soviet offer to similarly equip the other Arab states. This event has momentous historical implications. It signifies Russia’s large-scale intrusion in the Near East and her realization of an ambition which the Russians have nurtured for centuries.”
Earlier, addressing the opening session of the three-day national advisory board of JNF, Dr. Granott suggested the possibility of Israel lending her experience in the work of “afforestations, swamp drainage and land reclamation to those Middle Eastern nations who are suffering because of centuries-long neglect of their lands.” The internationally-known land authority said that such a program of agricultural betterment “would do more to strengthen the economies and peace of the Middle East area than any other program of any other kind.”
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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.
