Moshe Rivlin, chairman of the Jewish National Fund, reported this week that some Jewish communities abroad no longer regard Israel as the sole solution of the Jewish refugee problem. Rivlin, who reported on his recent visit to the U.S. at the World Zionist Organization Executive’s weekly meeting, said that attitude represented a substantial departure from the guidelines of the United Jewish Appeal and the Zionist movement.
He contended that the main problem overseas is assimilation and that only increased Jewish education could cope with it. According to Rivlin, the JNF could serve as an educational as well as a fundraising tool in the hands of the Zionist movement. He said that the JNF would raise $6 million in the U.S. this year compared with $5 million last year and that an estimated $8 million would be raised next year. He noted that next January the JNF will inaugurate the Hubert H. Humphrey Road in the American Bicentenial Forest, named after the late U.S. Senator from Minnesota.
Rivlin also reported that the Jewish community in Canada responded favorably to his proposal that it assist in the development of Galilee. The Canadians have volunteered to finance land reclamation work at 16 Galilee settlements, he reported.
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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.
