Israel Prime Minister Levi Eshkol landed today at the International Airport here to brilliant sunshine and warm greetings. He will proceed tomorrow morning to Washington after visiting the Independence Hall here where Mayor James H. Tate will confer upon him honorary citizenship of the City of Philadelphia. In Washington, he and his party of high Israeli officials will arrive at the White House tomorrow shortly before noon and will be greeted by President Johnson. Full military honors will be rendered.
Mayor Tate was the first American official to greet the Israeli Prime Minister today upon his landing at the airport here. He warmly welcomed him and the Israeli delegation. Mrs. Tate presented a bouquet to Mrs. Eshkol. A State Department officer, Rafael Sancho-Benet of the protocol division, welcomed Mr. Eshkol formally on behalf of the United States Government and presented members of the welcoming committee to the Eshkols.
An enthusiastic crowd of more than 500 persons was on hand at the airport, some carrying placards in Hebrew with the word for “welcome.” As Mr. Eshkol was being escorted to the limosine, the crowd sang “Havenu Shalom Aleichem” (Welcome). Mr. Eshkol left the prepared route, went to them, waved and smiled.
The Prime Minister stood at attention when a band played “Hatikvah” and “The Star-Spangled Banner.” The welcoming delegation included a large number of Israeli diplomats, among them Avraham Harman, Ambassador to the United States, and Michael Comay, Ambassador to the United Nations. Frederick R. Mann, Director of Commerce of Philadelphia, greeted the Prime Minister. Mr. Mann donated the funds for the construction of the Mann Auditorium in Tel Aviv.
Mr. Eshkol’s motorcade paused en route to the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel–where he and Mrs. Eshkol have reservations for tonight–to pay their respects to the 6,000,000 European Jews murdered by the Nazis, at the city’s memorial to them. It is the work of Nathan Rapaport, noted sculptor who has also done the memorial erected in Warsaw in memory of the Jewish martyrs there who perished during the revolt in the ghetto.
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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.
