The annual conference of the South African Zionist Federation concluded last night with an expression of hope that friendly relations between the South African Republic and the State of Israel would be restored soon.
The conference, attended by more than a thousand delegates and observers, expressed regret that the old tradition of sincere and active sympathy of the Government and people of South Africa for the “Zionist aspirations of the Jewish people” had been “impaired by international events.” This was a reference to the response of the South African Government to Israel’s votes against it in the United Nations General Assembly on the apartheid question.
South African-Israel relations were freely and frankly discussed during the conference. Moshe Sharett, chairman of the Jewish Agency executive, who was the keynote speaker, noted that while it was unfortunate that in some cases Israel’s foreign policy displeased some countries, that was no valid ground for those countries to impede the flow of Zionist funds to Israel.
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