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Sharett Reports Increased Assimilation Among Jews in Western Lands

April 9, 1959
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Israel’s welfare is “close to the hearts” of West European Jews, but there are sign among them of “alienation and increased assimilation, ” Moshe Sharett declared here today. The former Israel Prime Minister and Foreign Minister has just returned from an extensive tour of Europe that took him to Scandinavia, the Netherlands. Belgium, Switzerland and Italy.

Mr. Sharett made his evaluation of European Jewry in reporting to the directorate of Keren Hayesod, the fund-raising arm of the Zionist movement. He paid warm tribute to the response of the communities he visited to fund-raising appeals he had made.

On the other hand, noting the “alienation and assimilation, ” Mr. Sharett declared that these trends are due to lack of Hebrew education He urged the Zionist movement to make special efforts to remedy the situation and to “infuse a Jewish concept in the life of the Diaspora.”

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