Jewish community leaders from 27 U.S. communities pledged “significantly greater” gifts to the 1975 United Jewish Appeal campaign last night. Paul Zuckerman, UJA general chairman, stated at a private dinner meeting hosted by Israeli Ambassador Simcha Dinitz that “this meeting proves our American Jewish communities will give more in 1975 than in 1974 if they understand the humanitarian needs and have leaders who will truly lead.”
Dinitz reviewed the current situation in the Middle East and called for the unity of the Jewish people in helping build the quality of life in Israel, absorption of new immigrants, housing and education, as the people of Israel face their first priority–survival.
Each Jewish leader at the meeting declared that during the Yom Kippur War he had made a pledge to the UJA which came to the limit of his financial resources. However, the dinner meeting participants, ranging from a 34-year-old leader who had Just returned from a UJA family mission to Israel to a 70-year-old senior communal leader, all agreed with the midwestern businessman who stated, “We know now that our struggle for survival has just taken a different form–and we must work for the life of our people–not just react to the tragic deaths on the battlefield.” The meeting was the first major fund-raising event of the 1975 UJA campaign, coming after the 1974 record-breaking effort.
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