Dan Pattir, who is scheduled to assume the role of an advisor on information to Israel’s Prime Minister and who is presently chairman of the Journalists Association in Israel, said yesterday that he disputed the contention that war in the Middle East is inevitable and added that war is not imminent “though the danger is there.”
Addressing a meeting of public relations men and women of American Jewish organizations and newsmen, sponsored by the American Zionist Federation and the American Jewish Public Relations Society, Pattir said that talk of imminent war has the purpose “to exercise pressure on Israel.” He added that presently Israel’s military strength had been completely restored and was satisfactory and, in addition, he said, there is not a unified Arab attitude to resort to the war option at the present time.
Another factor, according to Pattir, that made the option of war remote was the presence of the two super-powers in the area. Pattir who has been in the United States for the past 10 days on a lecture tour, and who returned to Israel today, said he was bothered by the “terribly low morale” of the Jewish community here in regard to Israel’s future survival.
Pattir said that this was a belated reaction to the Israeli mood after the Yom Kippur War. He said he was encouraged by the “absence of anti-Israel mood” in the United States, and added that it would be “a great mistake to portray Israel as a weak nation.” He said that he was not speaking at the meeting in any official capacity and that his observations were personal.
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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.
