At an emotional concluding session in the Knesset, 125 American Jewish leaders participating in the United Jewish Appeal Prime Minister’s Special Mission to Israel endorsed by acclamation a 1983 UJA Special Fund for humanitarian programs which are no longer supportable by Israel’s people because of the cost of the Peace for Galilee operation and which are being reassumed by the Jewish Agency.
Pledges for 1983 announced at the Knesset totaled $10.6 million, representing an increase of more than 75 percent over pledges by the same donors in 1982, with most of the increase going to the Special Fund.
“Our leadership acted in response to the opportunity provided by the mission, to see and hear for themselves the truth about the Peace for Galilee operation, its impact on the Lebanese people and on the civilian economy of Israel and the programs and services our campaigns help support,” stated UJA national chairman Robert Loup in announcing the action.
In his address at the concluding session, Premier Menachem Begin reiterated commitment to “peace for Lebanon, peace for all our Arab neighbors, peace for Israelis and for all Jews. Stand together with us,” he urged, “as we continue our struggle for freedom and independence.”
The mission’s “Declaration of intent” endorsing the Special Fund asserted “our intent and resolve to return to our home communities and assume responsibility to mount a special campaign, over and above our regular campaigns, that will attempt to raise a minimum of $200 million for transmittal to the Jewish Agency for the humanitarian programs that the Agency provides to Israel’s people.”
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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.
