Premier Golda Meir said today in a New Year’s message to world Jewry that although the “Jarring mission has been frozen at its start” and “peace is still remote,” nonetheless “the people of Israel have succeeded in pursuing the central obligation and privilege of maintaining the momentum of the building of the state.” Mrs. Meir observed “The outgoing year has been marked by tension, danger and escalation in the Middle East in face of which Israel has continued to pursue undeterred its struggle for peace.” Premier Meir added that “Israel finds encouragement in the fact that Arab threats and aggression cannot conceal the fact that among certain circles in the Arab world there is a growing questioning as to the validity of the long-held axiom of the ephemerality of the Jewish State.” Mrs. Meir noted that “The anguish of Soviet Jewry sealed off from the process of redemption echoes as never before in the Jewish hearts in Israel and throughout the Diaspora.” Concluding her holiday message, Mrs. Meir declared: “On behalf of the government and people of Israel I send heartfelt good wishes for shana tova to fellow Jews everywhere. In the coming year as in the outgoing year may we fulfill in unity and dedication our obligations to our generation and to future generations. May we sense the greatness of the new era in Jewish history in which we are privileged to live. In the coming year may our prayers and hopes find fulfillment in peace and progress for Israel, for all peoples in the Middle East and for mankind.”
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
