President De Gaulle Urged to Raise in Moscow Issue of Soviet Jewry

A hope that French President Charles de Gaulle will discuss with Soviet authorities the situation of Russian Jewry, and help thereby to alleviate the oppressive conditions being imposed on the Jews in the USSR, was expressed here tonight by Jacques Torczyner, president of the Zionist Organization of America.

Addressing a dinner of several hundred Zionist representatives honoring Shimon Peres, Israel’s former Deputy Minister of Defense, who had just concluded a 10-day visit to the United States, Mr. Torczyner referred to President de Gaulle’s current visit to Moscow, and said:

“It is our fervent hope that, during his current meeting with the leaders of Soviet Russia, President de Gaulle, a world statesman of courage and vision, will discuss the plight of the Jewish community there, with a view that it be accorded equal treatment as guaranteed under the Soviet constitution to all minorities.

“Recent declarations by the Soviet Government, in response to protests against discriminations practiced there toward the Jewish community, manifest that it is sensitive to public opinion in a larger measure than heretofore.” The ZOA president continued: “The voice of President de Gaulle, particularly a direct plea on his part, will go a long way toward redressing the discriminations practiced against Soviet Jewry.”

Mr. Peres, who is now general secretary of Rafi, Israel’s newest political party formed by former Premier David Ben-Gurion, warned that the present balance of arms in the Middle East “may be disrupted because of the growing competition between East and West in the Middle East, and the slow infiltration of the Red Chinese in that area.” Discussing Israel’s economy, Mr. Peres said that affiliation of Israel with the European Common Market “is a prerequisite for the broadening of its economy.”