President Zalman Shazar of Israel tonight cited the American Jewish community and its support of the United Jewish Appeal for the “effective partnership” with Israel’s people which “made possible the resurrection of the Jewish people after the Nazi holocaust.” He warned, however, that “the task of helping Jews transfer themselves from conditions of subjection, discrimination and fear, to conditions of freedom” is still far from completed.
Israel’s Chief of State spoke at a dinner honoring him and Mrs. Shazar held under the joint auspices of the national United Jewish Appeal and the United Jewish Appeal of Greater New York at the Plaza Hotel here, attended by more than 600 American Jewish leaders from across the nation, and by Governor Nelson D. Rockefeller, U.S. Senators Jacob K. Javits and Robert F. Kennedy, and high state and city officials.
Gov. Rockefeller spoke on behalf of the people of New York, and Max M. Fisher, general chairman of the national UJA, and Monroe Goldwater, president of the UJA of Greater New York, spoke for the host organizations. Mr. Fisher assured the President that the UJA leaders, who raised $1,500,000,000 to enable Israel to receive more than a million Jews, pledged their continuing aid to the people of Israel in the great tasks still ahead.
Mr. Shazar pointed to his country’s 18 years of Statehood as “years of great achievement for Israel.” He declared that “hundreds of thousands of our people have been helped to live as free men should” and “we have created a firm and unshakable foundation for cultural and spiritual progress.” As a major accomplishment, President Shazar noted that “there are more schoolchildren in Israel today than the size of the entire population in 1948.”
Turning to the continuing problems which still confront both Israel and Jews in many parts of the world, Mr. Shazar stressed that in the combined endeavors of the UJA and Israel’s people “none of the goals of this partnership have as yet been completely reached. ” He lauded the UJA for its work in “the sacred lask of helping Jews to transfer themselves from conditions of subjection, discrimination and fear, to conditions of freedom, above all in Israel.” But he emphasized that “there are still many who yearn for freedom” and the job of fully absorbing Israel’s immigrants is far from finished.
“The initial steps of immigration and the provision of housing must be supplemented by thorough economic and cultural integration, ” Israel’s President told the UJA leaders. “Unless the new immigrant whom you help to settle in Israel is not further helped to attain the skills and education and social services that will make him and his children rooted and creative members of the community, our pledge to the newcomer has not been honored and the future of Israel itself will be profoundly and sadly affected.”
GOV. ROCKEFELLER URGES U.S. TO ACT FOR PEACE BETWEEN ARABS AND ISRAEL
Governor Rockefeller assured President Shazar that the American people understand that “Israel was born and Israel survives in a sea of deep hostility.” The UJA, he said, would “keep its lifeline to Israel open so long as fear and danger cloud the lives of your brothers. But, ” he added,” I would also like to see fresh, new initiative emerge from Washington in pursuit of a true and lasting peace for your troubled corner of the world.
“American must not let its commitment to peace and freedom in other parts of the world obscure the dangers to the peace of the Middle East, ” the Governor continued. “The United States should and must exercise its full moral force within the United Nations to bring Arab and Jew together in lasting peace.” The Governor pointed out that Israel and the United States are joined by “many bonds of humanity, history and common experience. “
In introducing the President, Mr. Goldwater called him “the personification of his nation and his people. His qualities of mind and character — his wisdom, understanding, knowledge and practical idealism — make him a most fitting representative of his people. ” Mrs. Shazar,he said, “is outstanding among the First Ladies of the world’s nations” because of her own achievements in the fields of culture, education and literature.
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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.
