David Ben Gurion, Israel’s Premier, left from here for Detroit today after a three-day visit to Chicago during which he was warmly welcomed by huge crowds and the city received him with a 17-gun salute. In Detroit he will have luncheon with Henry Ford 2nd. He will also visit the Kaiser-Frazier plant.
More than 500,000 people lined the route of Mr. Ben Gurion’s motorcade from the Chicago airport to City Hall, where he was taken upon his arrival. The crowds included tens of thousands of schoolchildren waving American and Israeli flags.
The motorcade, escorted by military units and platoons of massed flags was nearly deluged in ticker-tape as it moved through the downtown districts, of the city to City Hall. At City Hall, nearly 15,000 people jammed the area as Col. Jacob Arvey greeted the Prime Minister and introduced him to Mayor Kenelly. The Mayor, who hailed Ben Gurion as an outstanding statesman, called on all citizens of Chicago to pay tribute to ”the gallant statesman of the people of Israel.” He then presented a scroll to the Premier.
Mr. Ben Gurion told the crowd that there was a need to defend democracy everywhere in the world and to fight for peace. He said that Israel would be lined up with the free world in defense of the principles of moral justice and peace. Saturday the Premier rested at his hotel and today he met with leaders of the Israel bond drive. His visit to Chicago was saddened by the news of the death in Israel of David Remez, a life-long friend.
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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.
