Israel Extends of Friendship to All Nationals, Weizmann Says at Opening of Assembly

Friendship to all peace-loving nations was offered today by Israeli President Chaim Weizmann in his address opening the Israeli Constituent Assembly, the first parliament elected by Israel since its establishment as an Independent nation.

Dr. Weizmann told the assembled 120 members of the parliament, and the hundreds of guests who were invited to attend the historic event that the aim of the Jewish state will be, before everything else, “to gather in the exiles from all parts of the world.” He emphasized that this was a great day not only in the lives of the Jewish people but also in the history of the world.

“It is from this place that a message of hope and good cheer is going out in this hour from the sacred city to all the oppressed and to all who are struggling for freedom and equality,” he said. “From th5s place we send fraternal blessings to our brethren all over the world and to all the states, great and small, that recognized Israel.”

WEIZMANN ESCORTED THROUGH BEDECKED STREETS; CITY IN HOLIDAY MOOD

A holiday spirit prevailed in Jerusalem since early morning, when Dr. Weizmann arrived. He was met by a number of members of the Israeli Cabinet and by an army and police guard of honor. He was then escorted through the “Triumph Gates” and be flagged and decorated streets to the Jewish Agency building where the Israeli parliament was to open its first session a few hours later.

A procession of schoolchildren carrying flags and huge bouquets of flowers marched through the principal streets and stopped in the front of the Jewish Agency building, where Weizmann, Premier David Ben Gurion, members of the Cabinet, the newly-elected members of the Assembly and guests attended a solemn service in honor of the Jewish war dead. Services were conducted by the two Chief Rabbis, Drs. Isaac Herzog and Ben Zion Uziel.

Earlier, a ceremony marking the planting of a forest in honor of the defenders of Israel took place near Jerusalem. The ceremony was attended by members of the Cabinet and addressed by Dr. Abraham Granovsky, head of the Jewish National Fund. “On the day when we open the first Jewish parliament it is only fitting to remember our fallen heroes and to honor them,” Dr. Granovsky said.

All morning, a fleet of cars, buses and trucks converged on Jerusalem, with Jews from all parts of the country arriving to witness the ceremonies marking the opening of the Assembly. All along the highway between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem ceremonies were held to honor the memory of those who fell in the battle for liberation of this vital communications line. Ben Gurion and members of his Cabinet participated

###n these services. Similar ceremonies were held all over the country with 6,000,000 ###rees being planted in various sections of Israel in memory of the 6,000,000 Jews annihilated in Europe by the Nazis.

Addressing a tree-planting ceremony in the Judean hills, Army Chief of Staff General Yacov Dori said: “The war is not over as yet end we must he ready for any emergency.” Ben Gurion, addressing the same ceremony, pointed out that “these most valuable lives were lost in defending our own soil and in linking Jerusalem with Israel, while previously millions of Jews perished abroad without any purpose.”

At the conclusion of his speech at the Assembly opening, Dr. Weizmann administered the following oath of allegiance to all members of the Constituent Assembly: I undertake to be faithful to the state of Israel and to faithfully fulfill my duties is a member of the Constituent Assembly.”

The Assembly hall has two large Eternal Lights, one in memory of all Jews who perished in Europe at the hands of the Nazis and one for the Israeli troops who were gilled in last year’s fighting in Palestine.

ASSEFATH HANIVCHARIM DISSOLVES ITSELF ON EVE OF ASSEMBLY OPENING

Last night, on the eve of the opening of the Constituent Assembly, the Assefath Hanivcharim, the Jewish National Assembly which functioned as a quasi-parliament During the Palestine Mandatory regime, was dissolved by a vote of its members.The dissolution resolution declared that “with the establishment of the Jewish state the task of the Assefath Hanivcharim and its institutions is completed, and it ceases to {SPAN}##rist.” A committee, headed by Isaac Ben Zvi, president of the Jewish National Council, was named to liquidate the organization, which began functioning in 1920.{/SPAN}Addressing the Assefath Hanivcharim session Premier David Ben Gurion declared that the final decision on Jerusalem’s future will not be made by the United Nations or its Palestine Conciliation Commission, but by the Jews. Scoring the Commission which, he said, had been sent to Palestine without any instructions except in the matter of Jerusalem, Ben Gurion insisted that the decision on Jerusalem was made during the centuries by the Jews who maintained Jerusalem as their capital despite the efforts of the Babylonians, the Greeks and the Romans to wipe it out.

“This historical Judgment will not be changed–Jerusalem is and will, remain Jewish,” he stated. He said that the Commission was adding “new worry, to our worries,” and added that what was needed was a commission to “conciliate the Jewish people to the wrongs committed against it during the last 2,000 years.”

Ben Zvi reviewed the development of the Vaad Leumi–Jewish National Council–during the past 30 years and maintained that without the Council the Jewish state could not have come into existence so smoothly and with all forces within the community in complete unity. Abraham Eatznelson, head of the Council’s health services, expressed the hope that the state would take over all the health education, child care and other services initiated by the Council. The Assefath Eanivachrim’s last session was formally opened by its oldest member, 85-year-old Eliahu Berlign. Chief-Rabbi Isaac Herzog also spoke.