Israel must reject the “unsolicited advice” given it recently to discontinue immigration and to consider itself merely another state in the Middle East without fraternal links with Jews in other countries, Israel Ambassador Abba Eban said at a luncheon today tendered in his honor by the Overseas Press Club here.
The Israel Ambassador reviewed the achievements of the Jewish State during the six years of its existence and emphasized the fact that Israel’s progress–like the progress achieved by the United States–is due to a very great extent to immigration. “We shall keep our gates open for Jewish immigration at any cost.” he declared. He asserted that many of the 6, 000, 000 Jews who perished under the Nazis would have been alive today had they been admitted to Palestine under the British Mandate.
Ambassador Eban took issue with the decision of the United States to give arms to Iraq. This decision, he said, prejudices Israel’s security. He reiterated Israel’s readiness to negotiate peace with the neighboring Arab countries, and appealed to the United States to promote Israel’s attempts to reach such a peace settlement.
The “negative references” on Israel recently made in this country have encouraged the Arabs to think that America’s friendship towards Israel has weakened, he stated. He expressed the belief that Israel will gradually overcome the difficulties it is facing, and appealed to the United States to make clear to the world that its traditional friendship towards the Jewish State has not diminished.
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