Grave Perils Facing Israel, Says Neumann Upon Return to U.S.

Dr. Emanuel Neumann, member of the Jewish Agency executive, and chairman of the national ZOA executive committee, asserted today that the “Middle Eastern policy of the Western powers–notably the United States–has been pushing Israel into an increasingly adverse position vis-a-vis her Arab neighbors.” He further warned of the grave perils facing Israel through the arming of Iraq by the West, and the coming evacuation of the Suez Canal, enormously increasing Egypt’s military potential.”

In a statement issued upon his return from the sessions of the Jewish Agency executive and the Zionist Actions Committee, which recently concluded in Jerusalem. Dr. Neumann declared: “If Israel should thus be placed in grave peril, our own government must bear a large measure of responsibility. So must the American Jewish community, which does not seem to have grasped the full import of the momentous change which is taking place.”

“It would be idle and self-deluding,” he warned, “to expect a reversal of this trend unless we, American Jews, recognize that we have thus far failed to meet our responsibility in this vital respect, and make a renewed and supreme effort to safeguard Israel’s political and military security.”