The United Nation’s indecision in settling Israel’s boundaries and the future of Jerusalem was severely criticized here by Lord Herbert Samuel, the first British High Commissioner for Palestine, speaking at a dinner last night which marked the launching of the Joint Palestine Appeal in England.
“As a strong partisan of the United Nations,” he said, “I am bound to say that their handling of the problem of the Middle East with so much hesitation and continuous delay does not do any credit to the United Nations Organization. He announced that he intends to visit Israel within a few weeks as a member of a British Parliamentary delegation. Lauding the Government of Israel “which proved stable despite attacks from both right and left,” he called for the fullest support of the government’s efforts to overcome the financial difficulties caused by continued mass immigration.
Israel’s Finance Minister Eliezer Kaplan, who was one of the speakers at the dinner, told the audience that the world situation at present makes it imperative to transfer to Israel immediately as many Jews as possible from Moslem lands and Eastern European countries. “Not months, but days, count,” he warned. He said that Israel itself has already contributed 75,000,000 pounds towards the absorption of immigrants.
The sum of 370,000 pounds was raised at the banquet toward the 2,000,000 pound goal of the Appeal, of which Sir Simon Marks is the president. The families of Sir Marks and Isaac Wolfson here each contributed 50,000 pounds, it was announced at the dinner.
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