Sen. Dale Bumpers (D. Ark.), who is expected to soon announce his bid for the 1988 Democratic Presidential nomination, vowed Sunday night to continue his support of Israel.
“I am and I will continue to be a strong friend of Israel,” Bumpers told more than 650 Jewish leaders and guests attending the 79th annual dinner of Bnai Zion, the American Zionist fraternal organization, at the New York Hilton Hotel.
Meir Rosenne, Israel’s Ambassador to the United States, spoke of a close relationship between the peoples of America and Israel.
The diplomat also noted that “no state is more ready than Israel to sit down and negotiate peace,” with its neighbors. He said that although the Jewish State has fought many wars, “We never saw victory on the battlefield as an end by itself.”
Rosenne was given Bnai Zion’s America-Israel Friendship Award. Bernice Tannenbaum, chairman of the World Zionist Organization-American Section, received the Harris J. Levine Memorial Award. Shortly after the affair began, the guests were evacuated to the lobby after a suspicious suitcase, thought perhaps to contain a bomb, was spotted by security officers in the VIP lounge. After police arrived, a man claimed the suitcase, which was harmless.
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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.
