A debate on the Jewish knowledge and patriotism of Israeli Jewish youth took place in Parliament last night in a parallel discussion to that taking place at the World Zionist Actions Committee session at Convention Hall.
The Parliamentary discussion was touched off by a survey which purportedly showed that some Israeli youngsters did not know who the author of “Hatikvah” was nor did they know about the Nazi holocaust in Europe. M. Hazani of the National Religious Party said that this situation was the result of alienation of Jews from Jewish tradition and aping of Western culture by Jews.
However, Education Minister Zalman Aranne questioned the accuracy of the survey. He argued that environmental influences, such as the home and the neighborhood, were more influential than formal education for inculcating such values. He asserted that the crucial test of youth’s idealism was army service and that the response to this challenge showed that Israeli youth were not lacking in patriotic feeling.
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