Admiration for Israel’s achievements during its three years of existence despite the great difficulties which the country faces was expressed here last night by General George C. Marshall, Secretary of Defense.
Mr. Marshall spoke at a $500-plate dinner at the Waldorf-Astoria attended by 1,500 persons celebrating the 76th birthday of President Chaim Weizmann of Israel and the third anniversary of the United Nations Palestine partition decision, which led to the creation of Israel. The dinner was sponsored by the American Committee for the Hebrew University, Weizmann Institute of Science, and Haifa Technion, which is currently conducting a campaign to raise $5,500,000 in the United States.
Secretary Marshall compared the difficulties faced by the United States during the first three years of its existence with those now faced by Israel. He expressed the conviction that the Jewish state will grow and develop and be of help even to the neighborng Arab countries. He paid high tribute to the role which the Jews in Palestine played in the Allied armies, helping to defeat the Nazis in the Middle East. He especially emphasized the dangerous missions which Palestine Jewish parachutists carried out behind Nazi lines during the war.
Mr. Marshall’s speech was termed by Israel Ambassador Abba Eban as an expression of friendly relations between the Jewish state and the United States. Ambassador Eban noted that the Secretary of Defense took the time to address the dinner despite the crucial international situation which developed in the last 48 hours and which keeps Mr. Marshall extremely busy with matters of great concern to the United States.
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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.
