Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Yosef Tekoah, called on American Jewry tonight for “an unremitting display of Jewish strength on the side of Israel” even though, in its struggle for peace, Israel may find the “need to adopt positions or take steps which do not find favor with others.”
The Israeli envoy was the principal speaker at the opening of a two-day national leadership assembly convened by the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, the first of its kind since the Yom Kippur War. The gathering, at the Delmonico Hotel, is being attended by 300 delegates from all parts of the country representing the Conference’s 32 constituent organizations.
Tekoah’s speech was his valedictory address to leaders of the American Jewish community, He will retire next month as Israel’s Permanent Representative to the UN to assume the presidency of Ben Gurion University in Beersheba.
In his remarks, Tekoah stressed that the futures of American Jewry and Israel “are irrevocably interlocked,” that “you are concerned with our destiny, our development and our security” and “we have a paramount interest in your well-being, your vigor, and your ability to shape the course of events.” He said that “Israel has always tried to pursue its diplomatic struggle with tactical sensitivity” but it “could never forego, however, Jewry’s expressions of support and solidarity” which “remain crucial at all times and under all circumstances.”
ISRAEL NEEDS MUCH MORE SUPPORT
The Israeli diplomat emphasized that “Israel is in need of such support more than ever before” because “we are entering a period in which the power of Arab oil will be offset primarily by the understanding and backing of enlightened public opinion.” He predicted that, with the search for alternative sources of energy, in a decade or two “the oil stranglehold will have become a thing of the past. The problem is, therefore, to pull through the vicissitudes and threats confronting us right now,” he said.
Tekoah warned that “there is sometimes a temptation to look at the Middle East situation in the light of considerations of the hour,” observing that “this is the precarious way. It might lead to attributing to the conclusion of an agreement greater in import than its content and its viability. It might result in more meaning being attached to a tactical smile by an Arab leader than to his government’s fundamental attitude.”
He pictured Israel’s desire for peace as “unquestionable” while “on the other hand there are Arab governments some of which continue to reject a pacific settlement with Israel while others pay lip service to the concept of peace. Even the less extreme of the Arab governments support the PLO with its Nazi attitude toward the Jewish State and the Jewish people. Even the allegedly moderate Arab leaders demand the restitution of the so-called inalienable rights of the Palestinians — a euphemism for replacing Israel by a Palestinian Arab state with a Jewish minority.”
Tekoah said that “Under these conditions, the Arab call for even-handedness toward Israel and the Arab states must be seen for what it is — a demand to treat on an equal footing Israel’s unrelenting search for peace and Arab policy that is still keeping the Middle East in a state of war after 27 years of conflict.”
ISRAEL’S SURVIVAL NOT IN DOUBT
He said that “Israel’s survival is not in doubt…the problem is whether Israel’s strength will be maintained at a level that will give it security, deter Arab aggression and enable Israel to attain peace with its neighbors, including the establishment of defensible boundaries, a prerequisite for durable peace.”
Tekoah reiterated his government’s readiness to exchange territory for concrete political commitments to peace. He said that Israel would seek a solution for the needs of Palestinian Arabs within the framework of comprehensive peace negotiations but “will not undermine the peace prospects by any contact with a murder organization which is not representative of the Palestinians” and “denies the Jewish people’s right to self-determination and independence.”
HOPEFUL ATMOSPHERE NOTED
“Tekoah said that “recent events such as the letter of support for Israel addressed by 76 Senators to President Ford and Syria’s agreement to renew the mandate of the United Nations forces for another six months contribute to a more hopeful atmosphere for the pursuance of diplomatic efforts.”
“However, he said their success depended on several factors including the outcome of the American reassessment of Middle East policy, the continued rejection by the superpowers of attempts to impose a solution and the realization by the Arab states, particularly Egypt, that they must take concrete steps toward peace paralleling their demands for additional Israeli withdrawals.
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