The head of a group of 25 visiting American Jewish leaders reported last night that the mood in the United States toward Israel was still positive but there are clouds on the horizon. That was the assessment given reporters by Rabbi Israel Miller, chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations when the Conference delegation arrived at Ben Gurion Airport for a four-day visit which will include meetings with top government and Jewish Agency officials.
Rabbi Miller would not elaborate on his re-mark except to say that clouds “were part of American life which affects relationships beyond the borders of the U.S.” He said that as for as he knew, the U.S. was honoring its commitments toward Israel including the shipment of arms.
He warned, however, that American economic troubles might make it more difficult to continue aid to Israel on the scale that has prevailed up to now. But despite problems affecting American-Israeli relations, American Jewish leaders who met recently with President Ford and Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger were assured that the U.S. would honor its commitments to Israel without “its ands or buts.” Rabbi Miller said.
The delegation was received by Premier Yitzhak Rabin shortly after their arrival at a reception attended by the entire Cabinet, officials of the Foreign Ministry and the Jewish Agency. Rabin greeted his guests in a double-breasted blue blazer worn over a plaster cast that was applied to his right shoulder after he broke his collar bone in a bathroom accident last Friday. The Premier shook hands with his left hand but did not appear to be in pain. Today the delegation toured an Air Force base.
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