The joint statement issued in Moscow last Thursday by Soviet Premier Khrushchev and President Nasser of the United Arab Republic, in which reference is made to “Arab rights in Palestine” was termed here tonight “a challenge to the security of Israel” at a dinner addressed by distinguished Americans and attended by more than 1,200 persons from many sections of the country.
The dinner was arranged by the American Committee for Israel’s Tenth Anniversary Celebration to mark Israel’s first decade as a state, Participants in the discussion included former Senator Herbert H. Lehman, general chairman of the committee. Senator Jacob K. Javits of New York, Prof. Henry Steele Commager. Dr. Lewis Mumford, Associate Justice Felix Frankfurter, Dr. Nahum Goldmann, president of the Jewish Agency, and Ambassador Abba Eban of Israel.
The Nasser attempt to control the Arab states, Arab intransigence against Israel and the Soviet willingness to use that intransigence as a means of Incitement of the Arab world were cited by the speakers as the basis for the present dangers imperiling Lebanon. Saudi Arabia, Iraq. Jordan and Israel.Sen, Lehman urged:
1. Recognition of Israel “as a mainstay of the forces of freedom in the area. “
2. United States and Western action “to underwrite the security of Israel–and of her neighboring states–within their present borders–in such positive terms that Israel would cease to be a focus of military danger in the area. “
3. Full acknowledgment by our Government that “Israel is one country with whose stability and true Western orientation we need never be concerned–and that Israel could and should become the main center of stability and support for the cause of freedom in this entire area.”
4. Rejection of the Nasser-Khrushchev concept of restoring “to the Arabs their alleged rights in Palestine.”
5. American initiative in proposing and financing programs that would help to resolve the real problems in the Middle East.
Senator Lehman took exception to the notion that Arab refugees should be returned to Israel in force, pointing out that the re-admission of 100,000 Arab refugees would be equivalent to our admitting into the United States “as a gesture of good will to Russia 10 million Communists, sworn enemies of America and democracy. “
Senator Javits expressed the view that “the intransigence of the Arab states against Israel continues and it can be used by the Soviet Union as a means of incitement in the basic struggle between the free world and Communism in that ara.” He accused Nasser of an alliance with the Soviet Union which threatens the overthrow of governments not communistically oriented. He urged an American policy which would give no comfort to fanatical Arab demands for the truncation of Israel.
GOLDMANN, STRESSES ISRAEL’S EXTERNAL PROBLEMS; EBAN ASSAILS NASSERISM
Dr. Nahum Goldmann, describing Israel’s external problems in its second decade, declared:”The primary external problem of Israel in this second decade will be the integration of Israel’s reality into the life of the Middle East. The impressive unanimity of the Tenth Anniversary celebrations has demonstrated that the major part of the civilized world has accepted the fact of Israel’s existence and is ready to welcome it with affection, respect and enthusiasm into the family of nations.
“The peoples of the Middle East are the one great exception, and the central problem of the coming decade is to bring about Israel’s acceptance by them, “Dr. Goldmann continued.”The millions of non-Jewish friends who have helped our people to create and maintain Israel will have to play a major role in persuading these states and peoples to accept the fact of Israel’s continued existence and permit its Integration into the large reality of the Middle East which is increasingly becoming one of the great future centers of humanity.”
Ambassador Eban warned that “the world is facing real danger today for failing to insist that Arab nationalism, where rights have been so strongly established, should recognize and respect the rights of others. In recent days there has been new evidence that Israel stands alone as a centre of stability and progress in her region, ” Mr. Eban pointed out, “The life of the Middle East is tormented not only by social weakness and spiritual negativism but also by the insatiable appetite of one of its rulers for hegemony over other Arab state’s. Every negative quality which its critics have ever ascribed to Nasserism has been proved and confirmed in recent days.”
Vice President Richard M. Nixon in a recorded message to the dinner paid tribute to Israel’s pioneering spirit and its kinship with the spirit of the American pioneers. “The genius rejected by other lands, the brawn and brain cast out by dictators and by commissars have in Israel been used as a bounty of God to create a State small in area but large in promise and staunch in determination, “the President said. “We all hope that in the turning of the years the example of Israel will continue to point the way to progress and away from poverty.”
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.
