A declaration that “Israel will stand firm on its policy of unlimited immigration” was made tonight by Moshe Shapiro, Minister of Religions and Social Welfare. He asserted that “recent advice that Israel curtail mass immigration to allay Arab fears, strikes at the very heart of the Jewish State.”
“The inalienable right of each Jew to settle in Israel is one of the fundamental principles upon which the Jewish State was established, and the policy of the ‘ingathering of the exiles’ was among the first proclaimed by Israel, ” he declared, addressing 900 guests at an Israel Independence Day banquet at Hotel Commodore, arranged by the Hapoel Hamizrachi, the Orthodox Zionist laborite party.
Pointing out that the citizens of the Jewish State have endured extreme hardships only for the purpose of absorbing their co-religionists, the Israeli Minister asked, “Should a country be penalized for such a humane endeavor?” He added that America, more than any other country, should understand this attitude.
“Certainly, Israel’s policy is in consonance with that of the founding fathers of the U.S., themselves refugees, who established a liberal program on immigration,” he noted. He labeled the fears of Israel’s expansion as “groundless.” “As a matter of fact,” he said, “we have offered to sign long-term peace agreements with the Arab countries, but they have consistently refused to even enter into any discussions on peace.”
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