Israeli Foreign Minister Moshe Sharett formally opened the Fall drive of the Greater New York campaign for State of Israel bonds this afternoon when he addressed a rally of 10,000 in Straus Square on the lower East Side.
The Israeli leader promised that subscription to the bond drive would make Israel a “home for millions” and added: “The task we have undertaken is without precedent in history. Time and space were against us. We were separated from our country for 2,000 years and we were scattered all over the globe. Yet we regained possession of our ancient land and we are bringing back its exiles from near and far, Because we lost so much time in the past, because we let our fate drift for so many centuries, now that we have been given the chance we must work fast.
“The time has now arrived when we must develop all our economic resources so that all the newcomers should become producers, able to stand on their own feet. Help us to achieve this goal. Ours will be the strength, yours the pride.”
The Israeli Foreign Minister said that “the State of Israel has launched a bond issue in the United States to enable every single Jew in this great democracy to become a partner in our historic enterprise, Proceeds of the bond issue will be invested in sound economic development. Your subscriptions will be turned into means of livelihood for masses of Jews in need of a secure home–pipes for irrigation, agricultural machinery, industrial plants, buildings for factories, credits for housing, electric power, commercial ships and airplanes.
“In your hands lies the capacity to make Israel prosper and triumph over all odds. If each Jew in New York and in the whole of the United States does what he can, the total result will ensure Israel’s future. It is up to you all to vindicate your faith and sympathy by action. Let each one of you respond to the urgent call of Israel.”
ISRAEL EXAMPLE TO WORLD, MAYOR SAYS
Mr. Sharett handed Mayor Vincent R. Impellitteri a personal invitation from Premier David Ben Gurion to visit Israel. Voicing thanks for the invitation, the Mayor said that “the State of Israel, judged by human standards, by political standards or by economic standards, has achieved a record that can bolster any man’s faith. The courage, labor and self-sacrifice that have been poured into the soil and industrial machinery of that little country will always and as an example to the world.”
The Mayor, who is to leave Tuesday for Italy and Israel, hailed the people of Israel as “pioneers in democratic government in precisely the same way as the founders of our own United States. They are not building a nation the easy way–they are unshakeably insistent on doing it the right way. Israel Bond dollars will help create a decent standard of living necessary to any secure, healthy state,” the Mayor added. “Israel Bonds sold in this country will establish the firm underpinning of a free nation – food and clothing for the people, production adequate for domestic consumption and for export to the rest of the world, the economic plenty in which a courageous democratic nation must live.”
General Sessions Judge Jonah J. Goldstein presided at the rally which was sponsored jointly by the Greater New York Committee for State of Israel Bonds and the Yiddish newspapers, The Day, the Forward and the Jewish Morning Journal.
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.
