Elie Wiesel, the internationally famed author, has called for an international campaign against the United Nations to expose that organization, not for just its anti-Israel positions but as a forum for promulgating “oil imperialism, oil racism, and oil anti-Semitism.”
At the closing banquet at the 30th anniversary international Israel Bond Conference held here, Wiesel told the 400 delegates, “The United Nations has become a forum for me most vicious propaganda machinery against men. It has betrayed its own charter.” He described the international forum today as a “force which we must expose.”
Israeli Ambassador Ephraim Evron, a participant in the Jerusalem conference of September 1950 organizing the Israel Bond drive, referred to “peace with Egypt” as the difference between 1950 and 1980. “These thirty years were probably the most important years of our nationhood.” Evron told the gathering. “Your providing us with the loan dollars to build the infrastructure has made the difference. If there is peace between Israel and Egypt, it is because Israel is strong militarily and economically.”
EVRON: CARTER SINCERE ABOUT MIDEAST PEACE
Evron stated that Israel has had differences with many of the past American administrations, including the present one. “Carter’s policies have angered Israel, we have many disagreements, but I believe that he is sincere in his effort to bring peace to the Middle East, even though we disagree on many items.” Then he told the Bond leaders, “We have sacrificed much for peace but we will not agree to a peace that will destroy Israel.”
Both Evron and Wiesel expressed the view that eventually the world would understand Israel’s right to Jerusalem. Evron told the audience “Soon the world will come to recognize Jerusalem for what it is — the capital of Israel.” In his criticism of the UN, Wiesel predicted that the UN would vote Israel out of the international body as a punishment, especially for Israel’s position on Jerusalem. “Once again we will be an outlaw people. We must be vigilant.”
POSITIVE SIGNS IN ISRAEL’S ECONOMY
In his keynote address to the delegates, Dr. Yaacov Ne’eman, director general of the Israel Ministry of Finance, cited positive signs in Israel’s economy in 1980 as a result of the government’s economic policy but at the same time he emphasized the vital need for Israel Bonds funds “to assure the continuation of our economic upturn.”
Responding to Ne’eman’s call, Sam Rothberg, president of the Israel Bond Organization, asserted: “In our three decades of helping to build Israel, Bonds have always met each challenge as it arose. We now commit ourselves to the task of attaining the first half billion dollars by the end of this year and to completing the goal by matching that figure in 1981.”
Yitzhak Roger, vice president of the Israel Bond Organization, speaking at the welcoming reception, stated: “As we convene at our International Leadership Conference, we can look back with pride at the achievements of Israel in the past year. In spite of clouds that have gathered on Israel’s horizons, Israel’s impressive accomplishments in the economic field and in other areas are the dominant feature of the Israeli scene.”
In his review of Israel’s economy, Ne’eman pointed to some of Israel’s accomplishments since the initiation of the economic restrictions adopted earlier this year which, he said, had begun to slow down the pace of inflation. On the other hand, he said, exports have increased, thus reducing the country’s balance-of-payments deficit. He explained that the restrictive economic policies included such measures as reducing deficit financing of the government budget by cutting government expenditures increasing the efficiency of the tax system and reducing the share of public sector activity.
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.
