“We don’t want anyone else to shed blood for us, but neither do we want our blood to be equated with the price of oil,” former Israeli Premier Golda Meir told 240 United Jewish Appeal/Federation of Jewish Philanthropies leaders in New York at a dinner in her honor last night. Oil has eroded human values and decency, “but if the alliance between Israel and the Jewish people remains firm, I believe we can make it,” she said.
Referring to her meeting with President Carter earlier in the day, Mrs. Meir said, “We are not facing a United States government hostile to Israel, but the difference of opinion is very serious. The Jewish people have a legitimate right to live within borders we can defend. We cannot build our future on another government guaranteeing our borders. If others have to defend us we will lose our freedom.”
Mrs. Meir declared that “we want peace. We will go to Geneva, but it must be to a clean table, without preconditions; no one can tie our hands.”
Stressing the need for a significant increase in the 1978 campaign, UJA general chairman Leonard R. Strelitz said, “Responsibility begins with commitment, because no people can do what the people of Israel do unless they have a helping hand. We must increase our support of humanitarian programs needed by the people of Israel. We must help build a strong, viable society which can grow and prosper in times of peace. This year, Jewry understands that their gifts will mean more for Israel, and this is a barometer of American Jewish concern.”
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.
