Labor Parley Asks U.S. to Guarantee Israel’s Territorial Integrity

A resolution calling upon the American Government to guarantee the territorial integrity and independence of Israel was adopted here today at the conclusion of a four-day conference of the American Trade Union Council for Histadrut.

The 200 delegates from all parts of the country also adopted a resolution condemning “the publicly expressed aims of the Arab leaders to destroy the democratic state of Israel.” The resolution said these aims were “diametrically opposed to the purposes and Charter of the United Nations in which these same Arab countries claim membership.” The delegates also resolved that “there is no room for complacency as long as German and other missile scientists are working to build up the deadly arsenal of Nasser’s Egypt.”

Dr. Saul Stein, executive director of the National Committee for Labor Israel, parent body of the American Trade Union Council for Histadrut, announced the establishment in Israel of a number of medical and vocational training facilities as well as cultural institutions under the auspices of American trade unions.

Louis Stulberg, secretary-treasurer of the International Ladies Garment Workers of America in a report on his visit to Israel last April praised the work of the Histadrut’s Afro-Asian Institute for Labor Studies in Tel Aviv. He said the Institute was “uniquely fit to serve the future leaders of the emerging nations.” George Meany, President of the AFL CIO, is one of the two co-hairmen of the Institute. The other co-chairman is Eliahu Elath, president of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. American trade unions contribute to the scholarship program of the Institute, which helps practically all of its 160 students annually.

Undersecretary of Labor John F. Henning, who also addressed the delegates, drew parallels today between the democratic structures of Israel and the United States. Israel has a great instinct for humanitarianism, he said. “This is due largely to the efforts of Histadrut which is a Jewel of pioneering democracy.” He said Israel was ahead of the United States with regard to unemployment since Israel has a rate of only one percent unemployed and the United States has 5. 6 percent.

Ben-Zion Ilan, American representative of the Histadrut, speaking on Histadrut’s role in the shaping of Israel’s society told the American Labor leaders about the mutual aid and cooperative program of Histadrut, a major feature of Israel’s economic and social life. He stressed that Histadrut was “an open house” for the absorption of new immigrants which cannot be accomplished by institutional means alone.