The “great contributions of Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion to the realization of the Zionist vision” was hailed today on the occasions of his 75th birthday in a message from Dr. Nahum Goldmann in behalf of the World Zionist executive.
The cable also lauded the Prime Minister’s “contributions in the establishment of Israel’s armed forces” and his initiative in the proclamation of the Jewish State. The message added
that “despite basic differences of opinion between the movement and you about the tasks of the Zionist movement, we see you in historical perspective today as one of the supreme Zionists of our time.”
The Prime Minister, who will be 75 tomorrow, received his first present two days ahead of his birthday. It was the “Grand Croix Dahomenc, ” the highest order of Dahomey, one of the new African states. The order was presented to the Prime Minister at his desert retreat in Sde Boker by Dahomey’s president, Hubert Maga. The Dahomey president and his entourage members were guests at a luncheon in the kibbutz dining hall.
The two leaders held a 60-minute private talk, which was conducted in French and which was reported to have dealt with world peace problems, the African role in contribution to world peace and Israel-Dahomey ties. The Dahomey leader was a guest of Tel Aviv today and was greeted by thousands of Tel Aviv adults and school children when he and his party walked through the streets of Tel Aviv. (See page 3 for report on celebrations of Ben-Gurion’s birthday in the United States.)
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