An appeal to the Big Powers to discontinue sending arms to the Arab countries was voiced here tonight by Mrs.Golda Meir, Israel’s Foreign Minister, addressing a dinner given in her honor by the Israel Bond Organization, Speakers at the dinner, at which more than $650, 000 were raised for Israel through the sale of bonds, included Governor Averell Harriman and Mayor Robert Wagner.
Responding to tributes paid to her, Mrs. Meir said that peace in the Middle East will be attained when the Arabs begin to realize that there is no possibility of destroying Israel and when the Big Powers of the world stop sending them arms.
“Only when the Big-Powers realize that peace in the Middle East, as anywhere else, is built on a foundation of constructive effort, of doing something that is essential for the lives of the masses of people and not for the vanity of military dictators, only in that kind of a world will Israel be able to work and build in peace and absolute security, Mrs Meir said.
The Israel Foreign Minister asserted that “to our sorrow” Israel has been proven right with regard to its stand on President Nasser of Egypt. She said that one year ago this month when Israel troops marched into Sinai, Israel warned that the Arab countries have as much to fear from Nasser as Israel has. “I say to our sorrow that we were proven right,” she added. “Nasser and the developments in Syria today cannot be disconnected. What has happened in Syria in the last few months is a direct result of the regime of Nasser in Egypt.
“The volume of armaments that is flowing into Syria, the propaganda that goes with the arms into Syria and into the entire Arab world by radio and by press, spells a clear, definite danger to the security of Israel, “Mrs. Meir continued. Pointing out that Israel must be economically strong in order to survive, she declared that Israel is dependent upon Israel bond investment funds “because these bonds give us the means of strengthening our financial resources for our economic development.”
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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.
