Both the United States and Israel are pledged to help the Middle Eastern states maintain their independence, Ambassador Abba Eban of Israel declared here yesterday at a ceremony at Touro Synagogue, oldest Jewish house of worship standing in the United States.
The ceremony was the annual re-reading of a letter from President George Washington to the congregation pledging that the United States Government “gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance.” At yesterday’s ceremony, Howard Pyle, Presidential assistant brought a message from President Eisenhower.
In his address, Ambassador Eban paid tribute to the contributions of the United States to Israel, noting that the U.S. was “in the forefront of the many friendly governments which are now reinforcing Israel in her industry, agriculture, scientific and cultural progress, political and diplomatic standing and physical security.” He also hailed the contributions of American Jewry to the development of the United States and the re-building of Israel.
After the ceremony, it was announced that the Society of the Friends of Touro Synagogue had raised $150,000 toward the cost of renovating the 200-year-old synagogue.
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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.