Leaders in all walks of public life today attended a reception tendered to Prime Minister Levi Eshkol by Mayor Robert Wagner at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel. Earlier in the morning, Mayor Wagner and the civic establishment of the City of New York accorded him a warm welcome at City Hall ceremonies. At festive ceremonies, the Mayor presented Mr. Eshkol with the keys to the city.
Mr. Eshkol told of his affection for New York, reminiscing that when he was a boy in Czarist Russia he recalled how hope was stirred among oppressed Jews by the arrival of letters from relatives in New York. He said that “New York has a special place in the heart of the people of Israel. He added that many ties of kinship, economic and cultural exchange, linked Israel with New York.
An outline of Israel’s future prospects in the Near East was given in the morning by Mr. Eshkol in response to questions at a breakfast tendered at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel by the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, Mr. Eshkol stressed that, while Israel possesses human qualities and intellectual capacities, these cannot replace material resources. He outlined economic developments, stressed development needs, and also commented on social issues within Israel.
Mr. Eshkol will end his four-day visit to New York at a conference of the board of governors of the Israel Bond Organization on Saturday evening, June 6 at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, where he will be honored at a dinner session.
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