President Dr. Chaim Weizmann today greeted Jews in the state of Israel and throughout the world on the occasion of the New Year. His message said:
“Our enemies are again preparing an attack on our young state. Nevertheless, in accordance with Jewish traditions, we have to look not only forward, but also at the past year, when great gains and achievements were made.
“The courage of our soldiers provides us with a source of hope. I am sending New Year greetings to all Jews, far and near, especially to our prisoners of war, who are so near to us on the other side of the front, and are yet so far. I am sure they, too, will soon be back with us,” his message said.
Premier David Ben Gurion, addressing the Israelis in a radio address last night, stated: “Our military and political battle for existence is not yet over, but we take leave of the past year with hearts full to overflowing, with thanksgiving, wonderment and blessing.
“It is not without grave fears and anxieties that we approach the threshold of the New Year. Invading enemy armies are still encamped on our soil, and those among other nations who nurse an inveterate hostility toward us are still conspiring to rob us of our achievements and independence.”
Taking note of the activities of extremist organizations, the Premier said that “the destructive and anarchical tendencies of those bred on terror and dissidence in the days of alien rule have not yet been completely eradicated from our midst.
“This year, in which Jewish history has reached its peak, a dream has come true–if only in its beginning–a dream of redemption that countless generations have kept alive. The state of Israel has risen again after thousands of years – by means of the strength that is not by grace of other nations but in us,” he declared.
The Jewish Agency Executive today issued a Rosh Hashanah message through the Jewish Telegraphic Agency bureau in Jerusalem which said: “From fighting Zion and Jerusalem, awaiting its future fate and place in Israel, we send greetings for the year 5709, the second year since the establishment of Israel.
“Let this year bring stabilization to our state and strengthening of its independence and full sovereignty; may this be a year of large-scale immigration and the return of the sons to their homeland; may this he the year when Israel’s honor will be raised and Israel will be an equal among the other nations of the world,” the message, signed by Eliahu Dobkin, acting chairman, declared.
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