Judge Rothenberg Honored at Testimonial Dinner; Urges Increased Aid to Israel

More than 500 persons representing the major Zionist groups in the United States attended a dinner at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel here in honor of Judge Morris Rothenberg, national chairman of the United Palestine Appeal, who just returned from a planning-survey mission to Israel.

Calling upon American Jewry to realize that “Israel is in danger of being overwhelmed by economic disaster,” Judge Rothenberg appealed to the Jews in this country to give maximum aid to the Jewish state. He revealed that the people of Israel have given more than $100,000,000 toward the tasks of immigration and absorption over and above normal taxation. He also reported that an emergency budget of $150,000,000 has been adopted for this year by the Jewish Agency to cope with the “spiralling needs” of immigration and absorption.

A citation plaque was presented to Judge Rothenberg by Israel Consul-General Arthur Lourie in behalf of the Israel Government and the National Sponsors Committee, which arranged the dinner to honor the judge for his 35 years of service to the Zionist cause. Principal speakers at the dinner included Aubrey Eban, newly-appointed Ambassador to Washington and head of the Israel delegation to the United Nations; Rudolf G. Sonneborn, chairman of the U.P.A. board of directors; Louis Lipsky, chairman of the American Zionist Council; Dr. Harris J. Levine, president of the Jewish National Fund of America; Mrs. Samuel Halprin, president of Hadassah; General John Hilldring, Bartley Crum and others. Dr. Nahum Goldmann, chairman of the American section of the Jewish Agency, presided.