The tenth anniversary of the passing by the United Nations General Assembly of its resolution establishing the State of Israel was celebrated here tonight at a $100-plate dinner of the Zionist Organization of America at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel. Representatives from 25 UN member nations attended the affair in which more than 1,500 guests participated.
Speakers at the dinner lauded the United Nations for sanctioning the establishment of Israel. They also emphasized that Israel, in the short span of its existence, has made good as a member of the family of nations and that it is “here to stay” At the same time, they underscored the moral responsibility of the United Nations for the future security of Israel and asserted that the international tribunal can bring permanent peace to the Middle East if it is unhampered in its efforts in this direction.
The principal guests of honor at the dinner were Hon. Oswaldo Aranha now chairman of the UN delegation from Brazil, who presided at the General Assembly session during the adoption of the resolution on Israel; Dr. Abba Hillel Silver who, as chairman of the Jewish Agency delegation at that time presented the case for the Jewish people in the United Nations; and Israel Ambassador and chief of the Israeli delegation to the UN Abba Eban. Dr. Emanuel Neumann, a leading member of the Jewish Agency delegation to the UN at that time presided at the dinner.
Dr. Neumann pointed to the recent statement by Israel’s Prime Minister and Parliament reaffirming Israel’s adherence to the cause of the free world, rejecting proposals for any radical change of a foreign policy and orientation. He termed this statement one “of far-reaching international significance.”
DR. SILVER BLAMES U.S. FOR SOVIET PENETRATION INTO MIDDLE EAST
Voicing his gratification at the reunion “with many of those who took part in the great drama of 1947, when we endeavored to correct an ancient wrong and to provide a secure home for the homeless,” Mr. Aranha declared: “On that occasion I felt I was serving not only my country, or the cause of the Jewish people, but the cause of humanity.”
Mr. Aranha further emphasized that in sanctioning the establishment of the State of Israel “we were equally mindful of the rights of the Arabs” and voiced the conviction that “if the solution adopted by the United Nations had been accepted by all concerned the whole Middle East would have been greatly benefitted.” He also stressed that the United Nations “has a moral responsibility for the future of Israel.
Dr. Silver in his address termed the UN decision as “the most notable moral achievement of the world tribunal,” and declared that “nothing can dim the glory of that great hour of decision and nothing can minimize its immense significance and its continuing impact upon history.” The Zionist leader attributed the entire series of events in the Middle East in recent years culminating in Soviet fateful penetrations in that area directly to what he termed the early blunders and failures by Britain and the U S.
The speaker further asserted that but for “these early blunders and failures in resolute purpose and in effective action there might have been no need at all for a Baghdad Pact, a Sinai-Suez Campaign or an Eisenhower Doctrine. It was the chain-reaction to appeasement which finally put the Kremlin into Cairo and Damascus – and the end is not yet.”
Dr. Neumann pointed to the recent statement by Israel’s Prime Minister and Parliament reaffirming Israel’s adherence to the cause of the free world, rejecting proposals for any radical change of a foreign policy and orientation. He termed this statement one “of far-reaching international significance.”
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.
