Kissinger Tells Jewish Leaders He Has Never Forgotten His Jewishness

Outgoing Secretary of State, Henry A. Kissinger, told a gathering of American Jewish leaders today that he has never forgotten his Jewishness during his term as Secretary of State and his deep involvement in efforts to bring progress in the Middle East.

With his voice trembling with emotion, Kissinger, addressing a farewell luncheon on his behalf given by the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations at the Pierre Hotel here, said: “I have never forgotten that 30 members of my family died in a concentration camp.” But, Kissinger said, he believed that United States support of Israel should not be a result of personal relationships “but the preference of a national interest” on the part of the American government. “The relations of the U.S. and Israel transcend personal relationship,” Kissinger said, adding that the support for a free democratic Israel in the Mideast is a moral obligation of any Administration.

“The basic policy of the U.S.,” Kissinger told the more than 150 Jewish leaders from all over the country, is that “Israel be strong enough that her decisions would be made out of free choice. It must be a principle of American policy that Israel is strong enough to defend itself.”

Noting that his relations with American Jewry and Israel have been “complicated,” Kissinger said that “no criticism had hurt me more” than when it “came from this community (American Jewry).”

As to the prospects of peace in the Mideast, Kissinger said that they are better now than in many years. He said he hoped the Jewish saying “next year in Jerusalem” will have a new meaning in the future. “Next year in an Israel that is accepted (by its neighbors), secure and at peace.”

DINITZ, SCHINDLER LAUD KISSINGER

Israel’s Ambassador to the U.S., Simcha Dinitz, told the gathering that Kissinger played a major role in making Israel stronger than ever with the danger of an outbreak of hostilities in the Mideast less likely than ever and with the Soviet influence in the area at an ebb. “Kissinger saw Israel not only as an historian and a Jew,” Dinitz said, “but also as an extended arm of American freedom and democracy.” The Israeli diplomat recalled that he telephoned Kissinger on July 4 to inform him of the Israeli rescue at Entebbe, Uganda. Kissinger responded “This is a great day for Israel. This is a great day for Jews. This is a great day for democracy,” Dinitz said.

Israel and Kissinger had many disagreements as well, Dinitz said, but the American Secretary always agreed that Israel must be strong to deter war and defend itself.

Rabbi Alexander M. Schindler, chairman of the Presidents Conference, also noted that Kissinger’s Mideast diplomacy was “most controversial and it continues to be so.” But, Schindler said. American Jewry tenders its regard to Kissinger “because we sense in his depths a commitment to Israel and to the Jewish people. No human being can probe the innermost resources of another man’s heart, but we have the right to feel…and this is at any rate what I feel: that while Kissinger always saw Israel objectively he never saw it as a ‘thing apart.’ He was objective, but not detached. ‘How can I as a Jew do anything to betray my people?’ Many of us heard him say these words and they were not lightly spoken.” Schindler said.

Yehuda Hellman, executive director of the Presidents Conference, presented Kissinger with one volume of a complete set of the Encyclopedia Judaica. The remaining 15 volumes will be delivered to Kissinger’s home.