Former Foreign Minister Abba Eban said here that vigilance was needed now that the civil war in Lebanon appeared to be nearing an end. Eban, speaking at the installation of officers of Bnai Zion last Thursday night, said that the Arabs will close ranks quickly with haired of Israel once again a common denominator in their unification. He declared that Israel has never had any “longterm gain from Arab intra-strife.
Eban said he had made a special trip to the U.S. to induct Rabbi William Berkowitz as president of Bnai Zion before an audience of more than 2000. Berkowitz urged both the Republicans and Democrats to refrain from making the Middle East “a political football.” declaring that Israel’s security is in the interest of the United States.
Eban reaffirmed that the U.S. continued to be Israel’s “most stalwart” friend, “economically, militarily, in defense of Israel’s interests.” He said American diplomacy alone holds the “mediating role” in the Middle East because the Soviet Union is weak in the region, the United Nations has “ruled itself out and Europe is self-contained in its economic future.”
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.
