Three “burning issues,” affecting Middle East peace and the security of Israel, call for “swift and decisive” action by President-elect John F. Kennedy, the national executive committee of the Zionist Organization of America was told here last night by Dr. Emanuel Neumann, president of the World Confederation of General Zionists.
Dr. Neumann, addressing the ZOA Council, cited these urgent questions facing Mr. Kennedy: Stopping the arms race in the Middle East, and correcting a resulting military imbalance; ending the illegal blockade of the Suez Canal to Israeli shipping; avoiding the election of the United Arab Republic to the United Nations Security Council at this time.
Other principal speakers at the two-day extraordinary meeting of the Council were Max Bressler, of Chicago, president of the ZOA; and Dr. Max Nussbaum of Hollywood, chairman of the Council. The group is the ruling body of the Zionist Organization of America between annual conventions.
Mr. Bressler said that the ZOA had determined to serve the whole Jewish community of America “in all its facets that go to make up a strong, vibrant democratic Jewish life.” He noted the proposal to enlarge the World Zionist Organization by including other large Jewish groups and said the suggestion was prompted by a desire to equate the Zionist Organization with the Jewish people.
Expressing doubt that the plan would work, he predicted that the Zionists themselves “will have to continue to bear the brunt of Zionist responsibilities, regardless of the position of the new forces which may or may not join the World Zionist Organization.”
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
