Peres Calls on U.S. Jewish Leaders to Press for Aid to Arab Nations

Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres called on American Jewish leaders this week to push for foreign aid for Arab countries supporting the peace process.

“We need American support, not only for Israel, but for the peace process”, Peres told the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations on Monday.

Such American assistance could prove crucial in bringing about a non- belligerent Middle East, he said, just as the Marshall Plan after World War II helped Europe unite itself and grow prosperous.

He warned of the consequences of the United States were ” to become tired and say they cannot afford it”.

“Generosity has its own payoff”, he said.

Foreign aid was expected to be among the topics being discussed during the conference’s mission to Washington on Wednesday.

Peres described the situation in the Middle East, in which political confrontation and violence continue. But now, rather than being between the Arabs and Israel, the division is between “those supporting peace and those opposing peace”, he said.

“The camp supporting peace is Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, the Palestinian Authority and us”, he said.

Peres called as well for American Jewish leaders to support the peace process- even if they did not necessarily agree with it.

Peres compared the situation to opposition among non-Zionist American Jewish leaders to David Ben-Gurion’s 1942 call for a Jewish state in Palestine.

“When Ben-Gurion came out with the Biltmore Plan, he wasn’t applauded by all the American Jewish people. But when it came to doing [on behalf of a Jewish state], we got tremendous mobilization and support.

“Whether you agree with what we’re doing or not, please support us. Let’s act together”, Peres said.

Earlier in the day, members of the Conference of Presidents met for lunch with Jordanian Ambassador Fayez Tarawneh. This was the first meeting at the conference with an Arab diplomat.