Leon Dulzin, Jewish Agency treasurer, called upon American Jewry for increased effort to help Israel meet the challenge of social justice and equality. He said that, together with peace, closing the social gap in Israel is the most important task facing Israel and the Jewish people today.
Addressing more than 300 Jewish leaders at the United Israel Appeal (UIA) annual luncheon meeting here on Friday, Dulzin noted that presently there are more than 40,000 Israeli families who live “in almost subhuman conditions.” The Israeli government, he said, is giving special attention to solving the problem but the help of American Jewry is needed to overcome the challenge.
According to Dulzin, a five-year plan involving $1.2 billion to solve Israel’s acute social ailments is underway, but this requires “special efforts” if the challenge is to be met. “You have done a lot last year, but not enough,” Dulzin told the audience. “I hope you will do more this year.”
Addressing himself to the recent momentous events in the Mideast, Dulzin said that Egyptian President Anwar Sadat’s visit to Jerusalem was like “a dream come true.” He hoped “that we are in the beginning of the road to peace. We believe in peace.” But, he added, “there is no room” for a third state between Israel and Jordan. “Palestine is the land that includes Israel and Jordan,” he said. “The Arabs have an independent state in Palestine (Jordan) and the Jews have an independent state in Palestine (Israel).”
The conflict, Dulzin stated “is where the border between the two states in Palestine shall be.” Noting that Palestine was a land “without people” and that “we have brought the people to Palestine,” Dulzin claimed that Palestine is a name for a territory and not for people. “We are not denying any rights from any people,” the Jewish leader stated.
SOLON SAYS U.S. AID TO ISRAEL WILL CONTINUE
Rep. Jonathan B. Bingham (D.NY) was given an honorary award by the UIA for his “humanitarian services in furthering friendship between the people of the United States and the people of Israel,” and for his efforts on behalf of Soviet Jewry.
Bingham, in brief remarks he made after receiving the award, said that he is optimistic now about the prospects of peace in the Mideast. He added that Congress will continue to provide Israel with the necessary wherewithal to maintain her defense. “Support for Israel in Congress is solid,” he declared, and economic as well as military assistance to the Jewish State will continue.
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.
