South African Jews are “astonished” by Israel Labor Minister Yigal Allon’s assertion that there is no future for Jews in South Africa, a spokesman for the South African Jewish Board of Deputies said here today.
Mr. Allon made the statement in an address in Jerusalem yesterday to the 30th Congress of the World Union of Jewish Students, declaring that Jews could not be citizens of a country which proclaimed racism as the law of the land. He added it was “disconcerting” that Jewish emigrants from South Africa were going to many countries–but not to Israel.
The Board of Deputies spokesmen said bluntly that the Israeli official’s view “are not shared by South African Jewry.” He referred to a resolution adopted last weekend at a national synagogue conference, which reaffirmed the “unwavering loyalty” of the Jewish community here, as an “integral section” of the South African nation, in which Jews were equal citizens contributing to the welfare of the country in the present, no less than in the past. The resolution cited the Government’s “fairness” to Jews and the “ever-ready assistance and cooperation always forthcoming from Government departments. “
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