Arthur J. Goldberg, the American Ambassador to the United Nations, today voiced strong defense of the right to dissent from U.S. foreign policy, “which can only benefit” from it. He also declared that his appointment as America’s spokesman at the world organization did not require him to relinquish his “deep interest” in American Jewish communal or religious affairs — interests which have come under attack from Arabs during the recent Security Council meeting on Israeli charges of aggression against Syria.
Mr. Goldberg spoke at the 40th anniversary dinner of the Synagogue Council of America in honor of the heads of the three leading rabbinical seminaries of the Orthodox, Conservative and Reform movements in Judaism — Dr. Samuel Belkin, president of Yeshiva University and head of its Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (Orthodox); Dr. Louis Finkelstein, chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America (Conservative); and Dr. Nelson Glueck, president of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (Reform).
Mr. Goldberg, in speaking of the right to dissent, referred to his meeting recently with the leaders of national Jewish organizations following reports that President Johnson had equated American help for Israel with Jewish support for the Administration’s policy in Viet Nam.
“I firmly believe that our foreign policy can only benefit from an interchange of views between public officials and private citizens, one that constantly examines and probes how our foreign policy is coming along,” he said. “Free debate and discussion,” he continued, “must be the keystone of that policy and the right to participate in them must not be limited only to voices that agree. The price of our freedom includes that of criticizing our elected officials and of disagreeing with their policies.”
He denied vehemently intimations that he had met with the Jewish leaders on the Viet Nam question as the “President’s representative to American Jewry.” He declared, “nothing could be farther from the truth. I have no mandate from the President for this purpose; I would not accept one. I am the President’s representative at the U.N. for all the American people.”
As for Jewish communal affairs “in which I have always had a deep interest,” he said, “I do not believe my role as the U.S. representative at the U.N. now compels me to relinquish that interest.” He repeated his reply to Arab delegates who had charged that his statement several years ago that “I am a Zionist” cast doubt on his ability to act without prejudice on matters affecting Israel: “My appointment did not brainwash me of my past sentiments or of private statements that I made in my own right as an American citizen.”
He paid tribute to the three guests of honor, who responded. Rabbi Seymour J. Cohen, president of the Synagogue Council, hailed the presence of Drs. Belkin, Finkelstein and Glueck as a “historic milestone in the quest for Jewish unity.” At the dinner, greetings were brought by Bishop Paul F. Tanner, secretary of the National Catholic Welfare Conference; and Dr. David R. Hunter, deputy general secretary of the National Council of Churches, on behalf of the Catholic and Protestant faiths.
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.
