Rabin to Presidents Conference: Israel’s Future Looks Good, but Has Long Hard Road Ahead

Rabbi Israel Miller, chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, said Thursday night that he came away from a meeting with Premier Yitzhak Rabin “encouraged” by Israel’s future prospects although “it has a long hard road ahead.”

Rabbi Miller and 35 other Jewish leaders met late Thursday with Rabin at Blair House where he and Mrs. Rabin were guests of President Ford during their four day Washington visit. Each of the 33-member groups of the Conference was represented. Others present were Max Fisher, chairman of the board of governors of the Jewish Agency; Stanley Lowell, chairman of the National Conference for Soviet Jewry and Paul Zuckerman general chairman of the United Jewish Appeal.

Rabbi Miller said that in his 40-minute address to the Jewish leaders, Rabin outlined five challenges facing Israel: political, military, economic, social problems within Israel, and the relationship between Israel and the diaspora. Israel is facing up to the challenges, Rabbi Miller reported Rabin as saying, and noted that the Premier was much encouraged by the parallelism of views between the American and Israeli governments.

Rabin also pointed out that the Palestinian question on the West Bank comes within the context of Jordan’s responsibility and that Israel is unalterably opposed to any entity which would intrude itself into the affairs of the nation states in the Middle East.

On Israel’s economic problems, Rabin emphasized that one-third of Israel’s gross national product is used for military requirements. Sixty percent of Israel’s GNP is taxed away by the government, compared with the taxation of about 30 percent of the GNP is the United States, Rabbi Miller reported Fahn as saying. Most of those at the Blair House meeting attended the dinner or the reception at the White House Thursday night that the President and Mrs. Ford gave the Rabins.