Governor Averall Harriman tonight called upon the Administration in Washington to take the lead in convincing the Arab states that Israel’s existence is “inescapable and irreversible” and to help ease the “explosive situation” in the Middle East by reaffirming the guarantee of Israel’s present frontiers given in 1950 by the United States, Britain and France.
The Governor addressed 700 business and communal leaders at the inaugural dinner of the United Jewish Appeal of Greater New York campaign, which seeks the local share of the nationwide UJA goal of $100,000,000 for 1955. Close to $2,500,000 in pledges were announced at the dinner to bring above $8,000,000 the total raised as a result of pre-dinner activities conducted for the United Jewish Appeal since February 1 in New York City and vicinity.
Governor Harriman declared that the underlying cause for continued hostility between the Arab nations and Israel is the failure of Israel’s neighbors to accept the fact that Israel exists and will continue to exist. He attributed this failure to the lack of affirmative action on the part of the United States.
Israel’s Consul General Avraham Harman told the dinner guests that while Israel has always been willing to make peace and continues to be ready to do so, the root cause of tension on the borders between Israel and the Arab states, is the Arab position of unremitting hostility against Israel behind the cloak of armistice agreements. He stated that the trouble in the Middle East is due to the fact that the Arab states have refused to move forward from armistice to peace and that they have systematically undermined the armistice agreements by continuing to conduct hostilities.
Mr. Harman asserted that steps which have been taken in recent months to make unilateral grants of arms to the Arab states and so change the balance of power in the area, must be counterbalanced by simultaneous strengthening of Israel and by making it explicitly clear to all concerned that aggression against Israel will not be tolerated.
Jack Weiler, a national UJA campaign chairman, was the guest of honor at the dinner where he received the annual chairmen’s award bestowed upon the individual whose services to the causes represented by New York UJA is judged to be of the highest order.
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