U.S. Holds Key to Israel’s Progress, Z.O.A. President Tells Leaders

During his recent visit to Israel he was “more profoundly convinced than ever that America–its government and people–holds the key to Israel’s progress and welfare for the foreseeable future,” Mortimer May, president of the Zionist Organization of America, told a meeting here last night of the ZOA national executive committee.

He asserted that the “whole character and scope of Israel’s development are inextricably linked” to American policies and that therefore Zionists must work to see that American policies “advance American interests in the Middle East by safeguarding and strengthening the one country in that area which is attuned to the democratic way of life.” Commenting on the oil strike in Israel, Mr. May stressed that it was “a major stride towards achievement of full economic viability for Israel.”

Dr. Emanuel Neumann, chairman of the ZOA executive, in an analysis of the current Middle East situation, stressed that the question of a mutual security pact between the United States and Israel “is now of greatest urgency” and that such a “defense arrangement cannot be further delayed.” He welcomed a joint statement by Secretary of State John Foster Dulles and Foreign Secretary Harold Macmillan of Britain that called for the avoidance of an arms race in the Middle East. He added that in the light of this statement it was “difficult to comprehend” reports from Washington that the U.S. was offering arms to Egypt to keep the Arabs from accepting them from the USSR.

Harry Torczyner, chairman of the ZOA commission on Israel and the Middle East, hit the Egyptian plan to blockade the Gulf of Akaba. Abraham Goodman, chairman of the ZOA inner committee, reported the establishment of a new department for the promotion of the Hebrew language and culture, with Dr. Joseph Tenenbaum as its chairman.