Former Defense Minister Moshe Dayan declared last night that the greatest danger facing Israel was the large number of young Israelis who are leaving the country. Speaking at a briefing for 300 “key volunteers” for the 1977 United Jewish Appeal-Federation of Jewish Philanthropies Joint Campaign at the Federation building, Dayan said the way to alleviate this problem is “for American Jews to come to Israel.”
Robert H. Arnow, campaign chairman, said the joint campaign will seek to raise $125 million to meet humanitarian and social needs for Jews in Israel, other overseas countries and the New York metropolitan area. This marks a record fund raising goal ever undertaken by the UJA-federation at a time of relative quiet in the Middle East. Arnow, who is also chairman of the board of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, said the volunteers present last night will seek face-to-face meetings with 3500 major contributors in an effort to raise substantial advance pledges during the next three months.
FORMAL LAUNCHING NOV. 10
The campaign will be formally launched on Nov. 10, the anniversary of Crystal Night, when windows of synagogues and Jewish-owned stores were smashed by the Nazis in Germany and Austria in 1938. The campaign is eventually expected to involve some 12,000 volunteers in more than 400 trade, profession, community, congregational, women’s, young people’s and other campaign divisions.
City Comptroller Harrison J. Goldin described New York City’s financial plight, noting that the 1977 budget would contain a $350 million cut in funds for human services. He said the cut to charitable institutions will total $33.7 million.
Goldin said the trend for government to provide increasingly more funds for social service has now been reversed and the philanthropic groups will now have to shoulder more of the burden. He urged the volunteers to make an extra effort in this year’s campaign.
Others who briefed the group included Harry R. Mancher, joint campaign treasurer; Frederick P. Rose, president of the Federation; James L. Weinberg, president of the UJA of Greater New York, and Ernest W. Michel, campaign director and an executive vice-president of UJA-Federation. Mrs. Cynthia Zeger, of Manhattan, who was on the Air France plane that was hijacked to Uganda and was flown to France with the first group of released hostages, described her experiences. She said that the Jewish hostages had the memory of the Holocaust in their minds during the ordeal.
ISRAEL’S STRENGTH IDENTIFIED
Dayan, who answered questions from the group, said that Israel is stronger now than before the Yom Kippur War. But he said the strength comes not from having more arms but from the relaxation of tensions with Egypt, Jordan and the West Bank. He said there is more security in having the Suez Canal an open international waterway than in the pre-Yom Kippur War Barlev line.
Dayan rejected the view expressed at the briefing that Jews can only rely on other Jews. “I don’t want to feel that we rely only on ourselves.” he said. “I want to feel that we are members of the free world.”
The former Defense Minister said that on his last visit to the United States he spoke on some 60-70 college campuses and found that young Americans, who were not Jewish, felt they had an obligation to help other free countries, Including Israel. Dayan is in the United States to publicize his autobiography, “Moshe Dayan, Story of My Life,” which was published recently in Hebrew and English.
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