The World Zionist Organization Executive has sharply attacked Nahum Goldmann and Philip Klutznick, two past presidents of the World Jewish Congress, for their statement in Paris last Friday calling upon Israel to lift its siege of Beirut and for mutual Israeli-Palestinian recognition. The same statement was also made by former French Premier Pierre Mendes-France.
In a communique issued here, the WZO “rejected the harmful and unnecessary interference in Israel’s internal affairs by Messrs. Goldmann and Klutznick. They represent neither the Jewish people nor the organizations they once headed. They speak only for themselves.”
Rafael Kotlowitz, the acting chairman of the WZO Executive, issued an even stronger statement, in his own name, blasting Goldmann and Klutznick for “sticking a knife into the nation’s back … Instead of standing by the State of Israel and the Zionist movement in their struggle, these people try to save the chief murderer (PLO leader Yasir Arafat) and his terrorists, militarily and politically.”
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
