Udall: No Compromise on Israel

Rep Morris K. Udall (D.Ariz.) declared here that there must be “no compromise on the survival of Israel” on the part of the U.S. and expressed hope that this country would “stand firm” in support of “a real friend” which is the State of Israel. Udall. addressing 600 delegates at the 11th National Board Conference of the Women’s American ORT here, also called for a “flexible foreign policy” that would be selective in giving aid to countries in which the U.S. has a true interest.

The history of the Jewish people, he said, reflected “an unquenchable belief in the human spirit” predicated on the knowledge that “when the bell tolls for one man or one nation, it tolls for all.” He praised the ORT’s 97-year record of vocational training and education all over the world.

ORT’s chief of operations in Geneva, David Alberstein, told the delegates that the organization will be teaching more and more “sophisticated skills that will be necessary for life in the year 2000.” In order to keep up with the rapid advances in technology ORT will “keep raising the levels of study. It is a quintessential part of ORT’s program to constantly offer advanced skills to its students,” he said. Alberstein spoke of ORT’s operations in Latin America, particularly its creative education programs in Chile and Venezuela.

Dvorah Tomer, a former commander of Israel’s women’s army with the rank of colonel, spoke of the need to “change the image of women as it is at present reflected in the kind of skills taught to women in ORT-Israel.” She said the status of women in Israel could well be altered by the kind of vocational education they received at ORT schools and predicted a “new era” in the making for Israeli women.

Resolutions adopted by the conference included an endorsement of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), support of the right of Soviet Jews to emigrate and a condemnation of terrorism.