The collective strength and support of the Jewish people the world over contributed to Israel’s strength, enabling it to take “a bold step in its efforts to move toward peace.” Premier Yitzhak Rabin declared in a Rosh Hashanah message to diaspora Jewry disseminated through the Jewish Telegraphic Agency today.
He observed that “To be a Jew means to believe in peace,” adding: “That an interim agreement (this week) could have been signed at all was because Israel is strong. In a sense, the Jewish people everywhere shared in making this last agreement possible because together we constitute the strength of Israel.”
Rabin declared that “Upon that continuing strength rests the hope that the agreement will eventually mature into a genuine peace negotiation….For that to happen, the Jewish people must rally as never before the totality of our will, our resources and our energies in support of the major Jewish priorities of our time.” He said the three major priorities were: “The promotion of aliya; the advancement of Jewish education everywhere; and the intensified personal, moral and material commitment of every Jew to the centrality of the Jewish State in Jewish life.”
The Premier listed some of the immediate problems confronting Israel and world Jewry. These included the condition of Jews in the Soviet Union and in Syria and Israel’s own massive defense burdens and its social problems. “Together we have it in our power to answer these challenges, as we must, for this is our responsibility to future generations,” Rabin said.
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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.
