Rabin Conveys Congratulatory Messages to Nixon from Meir, Shazar

Israeli Ambassador Yitzhak Rabin today transmitted to President Richard M. Nixon, through Secretary of State William P. Rogers, messages of congratulations on the success of Apollo 11 moon landing from Israeli President Zalman Shazar and Prime Minister Golda Meir.

Mrs. Meir said: “On behalf of the people of Israel, I send to you, and through you to the entire American people, our congratulations and the sense of unbounded admiration aroused by the landing of Astronauts Armstrong and Aldrin on the surface of the moon. The scientific and technological achievement of all who shared in this prodigious extension of man’s knowledge of, and physical contact with, the universe beyond our own planet represents a turning point in the history of mankind.

“In paying homage to the dauntless courage of these astronauts and their colleague (Lt. Col. Michael) Collins, as well as of those who preceded them in this journeying into space, it is now our prayer that they may safely be returned to earth. We offer our tribute too. to the manner in which your country has seen fit to share openly with the world the problems, the anxieties and the objectives involved in each stage of this unprecedented adventure.

“I would add the hope that this single demonstration of man’s capacity to venture into the unknown will bring a new dimension into the relationship on earth of human beings to one another which may then open the way to that era of universal peace presaged by the Prophets of old.”

President Shazar’s message “For myself and all the people of Israel, I am privileged to convey to you our most profoundly felt congratulations upon the realization of one of mankind’s most visionary aspirations turned into fact by the genius of the American people. It is our hope that harmony and peace may yet be achieved on earth to match the victory over space demonstrated in this incomparable achievement.”