Hadassah Adopts $12,062,724 Budget; Largest Allocation is for Medical Organization

Hadassah adopted today a total budget of $12,062,724 to maintain and extend its network of social service and medical institutions in Israel and for its activities in the United States. The budget shows that the largest allocation is $6 million for the Hadassah Medical Organization. Also in the budget is $2,100,000 for Youth Aliyah, the international child welfare movement of which Hadassah is the largest supporting agency, and $750,000 for Hadassah’s vocational education program. An allocation was also made of $700,000 to the Jewish National Fund.

The Women’s Zionist organization also acted on several resolutions. One called on the Nixon Administration to exert its influence to persuade the Arab states to start discussions with Israel with the declared intention of negotiating a sound, just and lasting peace. Another resolution appealed to the United Nations to take urgent and immediate action to rescue Jews in Arab countries and enable them to leave for lands ready to receive them.

The delegates also called upon the Soviet Government to permit Russian Jews freely to develop Jewish communal and religious life and institutions; to make available the educational institutions, schools, teachers, and other thing required to teach Soviet Jews their heritage; and to permit Jewish citizens to practice, enhance and perpetuate their culture and religion by the establishment of a program of institutions. Other resolutions called for the means to provide for full integration of the public schools in the United States and for enactment of the Foreign Assistance Act and adequate funds for its implementation.

In another convention session, a Reform rabbinical leader today deplored the failure of prominent churchmen and Government leaders to protest Arab incitement against the Jewish people in the aftermath of the El Aksa mosque fire in East Jerusalem. Rabbi David Polish, vice president of the Central Conference of American Rabbis (Reform) told 2,000 delegates at the 55th annual convention that “the whole world knows that the Jewish people is guiltless of the fire.”

Rabbi Polish, whose pulpit is Beth Emet, the Free Synagogue of Evanston, III., denounced the United Nations Security Council as “corrupted.” He said “the world condemns Israel constantly. It does not call Iraq to account for the murder of Jews. It does not protest the state of hostage in which Arab Jews are kept.”