Confidence that “the sacrifices which Israel’s people have already undertaken” on behalf of the new immigrants from Eastern European lands will be matched by the thoughtful generosity of American Jewry, ” was expressed here tonight at the Inaugural Dinner of the 1959 campaign of the New York United Jewish Appeal.
Mrs. Golda Meir, Israel’s Foreign Minister, said she was sure that “this year’s campaign for the United Jewish Appeal will measure up to the vastness of the human needs we must meet. ” Advance gifts announced at the dinner put the campaign past the $10,000, 000 mark.
The Israel Foreign Minister told the dinner guests that “the thousands of immigrants who are coming to Israel today will intensify Israel’s industrial development and will help speed the nation’s achievement of economic independence. “
Mrs. Meir warned, however, that “until their multi-faceted skills can be applied to increasing Israel’s productivity, the problem of absorption has already proved enormously costly.” Our own taxes, and our own cost of living, have been abruptly increased to meet the problem created by this great influx of men, women and children who have chosen Israel as the nation in which they can find self-fulfillment for themselves,” she said.
“Israel’s people alone cannot bear the full burden, ” she continued. “They can only share this great obligation with the other major Jewish communities of the world, chief among them the Jews of the United States.”
Mrs. Meir expressed her “warmest thanks” to the guests of honor, Governor Averell Harriman and Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller. “Both these distinguished men, ” she said, “have shown deep humane sympathy for the plight of Jews during years of great catastrophe and in the last decade have shown their appreciation for the vision of an Israel re-born. They have understood Israel’s importance not only to Jews but also its value as a democracy and society built upon the principle of the dignity of the human being.”
Gov. Rockefeller, and former Gov. Harriman were presented with gold plaques, the Annual Chairmen’s Award for distinguished service to the cause of UJA. Herbert H. Lehman, Honorary General Chairman of the national UJA, made the presentation.
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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.
