In a statement of “brotherly greetings” to the people of Israel, Rabbi Irving Miller, newly elected president of the Zionist Organization of America, today reiterated his pledge of “full cooperation and support to the Government of Israel in the implementation of the tasks of Zionism as promulgated by the World Zionist Congress.”
The new Z.O.A. head declared that he regards his election “as a mandate to organize all-out support for Israel on the part of American Jewry and expand good will for Israel on the part of American public opinion in general.” He expressed conviction “that the Zionist Organization of America is the only instrumentality which can achieve these objectives.”
My first major task as president will, therefore, be to restore the organization to the peak of its efficiency and effectiveness,” he declared. “I shall work to reinstate the moral and intellectual leadership of American Zionism, so that the movement may become, not only the chief bulwark of Israel in this country, but also the most creative and dynamic force American Jewish survival.”
In pledging his full cooperation and support of the State of Israel in the implementation of the tasks of Zionism, Rabbi Miller said: “This high resolve in no way conflicts with our right-indeed our duty as Zionists-to have views and opinions with regard to developments in Israel, to express such views forthrightly, even when they happen to be of a critical nature, to sympathize with fellow-Zionists throughout the world-including Israel-who share our opinions, and to exert moral influence in behalf of our own convictions.
“We shall find opportunities to give full voice to these convictions within the general framework of the World Zionist Organization and, in particular, within the World Confederation of General Zionists, through which we are linked with our fellow General Zionists everywhere,” he emphasized.
Declaring that this will be the policy of his administration, Rabbi Miller in his statement, rejected “the notion that this would constitute ‘interference’ in the internal affairs of Israel,” adding that “on the contrary, it is a concrete manifestation of our love for Israel our concern for her welfare; it is an expression of the fundamental Zionist principle that the Jewish people is indeed one people.”
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