Starting the annual Israel parade under dark skies which rapidly brightened, more than 50,000 marchers watched by an estimated 500,000 onlookers, heard a message Sunday from President Reagan reaffirming America’s commitment to Israel and declaring that the United States would continue to work toward “peace and justice in the Middle East.”
The President’s statement was read Sunday at the 22nd annual Salute to Israel Parade in Manhattan by Treasury Secretary James Baker. Baker said the United States would continue its support of Israel with which it shares the values of democracy.
Baker, who also said that “when tough decisions have to be made, Israel has no better friend than President Reagan,” spoke from the reviewing stand on Fifth Avenue where dozens of American and Israeli dignitaries reviewed the parade, celebrating Israel’s 38th birthday.
The sponsoring organization, the American Zionist Youth Foundation, called the parade, an annual event in New York, the largest assembly in the world gathered in support of Israel. The four-hour parade, starting at noon, included decorated floats, many marching groups, 40 marching bands and representatives from some 200 schools from throughout the country.
The parade extended from 57th street to 86th street on Fifth Avenue and then the marchers turned to Third Avenue. This year’s parade was held under the theme “Rediscovering, Reaffirming, Returning.”
The theme was emphasized by the participants with their banners, costumes and decorated floats. Israel was represented at the parade by Justice Minister Yitzhak Modai. Modai, who spoke earlier Sunday at a breakfast reception at the Fifth Avenue Synagogue, hosted by the AZYF, said the Pollard spy affair was “a very sad event” but he asserted that it was an unauthorized action that embarrassed Israel. He contended that the “scandal” would not harm United States-Israeli relations in the long range.
Addressing the parade, Modai called U.S.-Israel relations a “true friendship” and said that Israel hoped “to continue the friendship between the two countries for many years to come.”
MODAI MEETS UN CHIEF
The Justice Minister addressed a press conference in the Israeli Consulate on Friday in which he said that he met earlier in the day with United Nations Secretary General Javier Perez de Cuellar and that the Secretary General agreed to provide Israel with the UN lists of suspected Nazi war criminals.
Referring to the Waldheim affair, Modai said that Israel has enough evidence to try the former UN Secretary General who was elected President of Austria Sunday, as an accessory to war crimes. But Modai also said Friday that Israel has no evidence to try Waldheim on direct crimes.
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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.
