Ambassador Chaim Herzog of Israel submitted a letter today about the rights of Jewish refugees from Arab lands to U.S. Ambassador Andrew Young. He attached a letter from Mordecai Ben-Porat, a member of Israel’s Knesset and the chairman of the World Organization of Jews from Arab Countries, who have organized themselves world-wide to press their claim against Arab governments.
Ben-Porat pointed out that Security Council Resolution 242, “put all Middle East refugees on an equal footing, and recognized that the rights of the Jewish refugees from Arab countries are in no way inferior to those of other refugees in the region.”
In submitting the letter to Young. Herzog emphasized that Israel “will not at any stage consider valid any discussion of the refugee problem in the Middle East if half of that problem, the Jewish refugee problem, is ignored.” He stressed that “Israel intends to press for the rights and property of our brethren who have left Arab lands. We will not agree to bias or discrimination.”
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