Israel Consul General Paul Kedar told 500 Israel Bond leaders from the Greater New York area yesterday of their annual inaugural conference at the Waldarf-Astoria that “Israel will not endanger Its security and survival by giving up our right to establish settlements in Judaea, Samaria and Gaza.” Furthermore, he stated, in apparent reference to the March I Security Council resolution which included Jerusalem in “the occupied Arab territories,” that “Jerusalem is not. just another settlement. Jerusalem is not a city to be divided again. Jerusalem is the undivided Jewish capital of the Jewish State of Israel.”
Kedar warned that Israel is facing a very crucial time as May 26 approaches. He pointed out that May 26 is a “target date — not a mandatory date.” — for Israel and Egypt to reach agreement on the Palestinian autonomy talks. As that date nears, he said, pressure builds up for Israel to make further concessions. Despite these pressures, Kedar indicated that he was cautiously optimistic about the autonomy talks.
Howard Samuels, general campaign chairman of the Greater New York Committee for Israel Bonds, warned the Jewish community to be on guard against “the evils of anti-Semitism and anti-Israel sentiments in unexpected quarters.” Referring to the Security Council resolution, Samuels stated: “The United States was wrong in voting for that resolution. Any discussion on whether Jerusalem should have been included or whether the United States should have abstained is beside the point. America should have vetoed the. resolution.”
Yitzhack Rager, vice president of the Israel Bond Organization, urged the assembled Israel Bond leaders not to be pessimistic about the political situation in the Middle East. “There is a strong and viable State of Israel in the Middle East, ready to handle every crisis, including military and economic challenges.”
FACING A CRITICAL ECONOMIC PERIOD
Martin Prince, campaign co-chairman, told the Israel Bond delegates that “Israel is forced with one of the most critical economic periods in her history. ” He said that by 1982 Israel must meet a relocation and redeployment deadline according to the terms of the peace treaty with Egypt, which calls to, Israel to give up all of Sinai.
“This will entail enormous financial sacrifices on the part of Israel, which will have to spend billions of dollars to open up the Negev region to massive settlement and development,” Prince said “Jens of thousands of families now in the Sinai will have to be moved to the Negev, where new facilities to provide homes, services and job opportunities will have to be established.”
He noted that the Israel Bond $1 Billion Economic Development for Peace loan Issue, which was launched a few months ago, “is one of the answers to Israel’s financial plight.”
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