The president of the City Council of Philadelphia. Paul D’Ortona was the guest of the Tel Aviv municipality this week. The occasion was the dedication of the new Anne and Paul D’Ortona youth center here. Mr. D’Ortona, accompanied by Charles Simpson, a Philadelphia businessman, was greeted by Mayor Yehosua Rabinovitz who stressed the similarities between the “City of Brotherly Love” and Tel Aviv. American independence was declared in Philadelphia in 1776 and Israel proclaimed its independence in Tel Aviv in 1948, Mayor Rabinovitz said. He observed that Philadelphians demonstrated their friendship toward Israel when Premier Golda Meir was warmly welcomed there last week.
The Tel Aviv mayor presented his guests with an album of Tel Aviv and a coin of the Bar Kochba era excavated in the vicinity. A toast was proposed to the continued friendship between the two cities and the two nations after which Mr. D’Ortona and Mr. Simpson were conducted on a tour of Tel Aviv.
The dedication ceremonies were attended by municipal dignitaries, representatives of youth organizations and a delegation of Histadrut, Israel’s labor federation, under whose auspices the youth center is being built. Mr. D’Ortona visited the Tate Clinic in Neveh Sharet, named for Mayor James Tate of Philadelphia, the Tel Aviv museum and ancient Jaffa. Mr. D’Ortona is visiting Israel as the guest of Histadrut.
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