Orthodox Conference in U.S. Proclaims Support of Israel Defenders

A message of support to the “brave defenders of the borders of Israel” who are standing guard against the threat of possible attack from the Arab states was sent last night by more than 1, 000 delegates attending the closing session of the First National Conference of Religious Jewry for Israel. The conference was called by the Mizrachi and Hapoel Mizrachi organizations of America in conjunction with a number of other Orthodox groups.

The delegates also reaffirmed their support of the Chief Rabbinate as the supreme religious authority of Israel and urged all responsible Israel Government leaders to respect the jurisdiction of the Chief Rabbinate in all religious questions in Israel. In addition, the parley called upon American Jews to give maximum support to Israel through the United Jewish Appeal, Israel bonds, Jewish National Fund and also the financial institutions of the religious Zionist movement.

Rabbi Irving Miller, president of the Zionist Organization of America and chairman of the American Zionist Council, spokesman for all American Zionist groups, told the conference that the root of the Near East problem is the Arab refusal to make peace or even to enter into direct talks with Israel, and the “failure of the major powers, especially the United States, to bring about a change in that attitude.”

Rabbi Mordecai Kirshblum, president of the Mizrachi Organization, warned the powers that “time is running out for the democratic cause in the Near East” and appealed to the United States and the West to “act swiftly to preserve the only democratic society in the Near East or a new Munich will be on their hands.”