Egypt and its Arab allies will “almost certainly” attack Israel in the next few months unless Israel receives “immediately and in sufficient quantity” the arms needed to deter such aggressive war, Prime Minister David Ben Gurion warned here last night.
In a two-hour address before the convention of Histadrut, Israel’s Federation of Labor, Mr. Ben Gurion emphasized the war danger facing Israel by declaring that Egypt has now received through its purchases in Communist countries 200 fast MIG jet fighters, 60 twin-engined Ilyushin jet bombers, dozens of heavy tanks and a number of submarines. “I am absolutely certain “he stated, “that our army and people are capable of defeating and destroying the Egyptians, in spite of their Soviet arms. But, if war is forced on us, we will suffer severely in the opening stages, due to Egyptian air and armor superiority.”
Mr. Ben Gurion pointed out that both the “front and the “rear” of Israel will be a battlefield if war comes. “The courage and capacity of our Army will not be enough in total war,” he warned. “Therefore, both the front and the rear defenses must receive top priority over all other activities in the nation. If, in spite of our will for peace, we are compelled to undergo the supreme test, it is not only the army that will be decisive but the total capacity of our people in skill, economy, spiritual stability and strength. These will count.”
To prepare for eventualities, Mr. Ben Gurion called upon all the people of Israel to bolster their spirit, build up civil defense, and increase sacrifice by volunteering for defense work and helping integrate the newly arrived immigrants in Israel. “Any attempt now to raise the living standards of the older residents of Israel,” he warned, “would be an unforgivable sin against military defense and our obligations to the new immigrants.”
American Jewry and the American government, he told the labor convention, “have been helpful in fulfilling Israel’s mission for the ingathering of Jewish exiles through emigration to Israel. But two of the biggest Jewish communities–the American and the Russian have scarcely contributed through immigration–the Russian Jews because they cannot emigrate, and the American Jews because they don’t want to, regarding themselves, as they do, an organic part of the United States.”
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
