Jerusalem Internationalization is “korean Aggression in Reverse,” J.N.F. Head Says

The internationalization of Jerusalem by the United Nations against the express wishes of the Jewish population of the city would be a “Korean aggression in reverse,” Dr. Harris J. Levine, president of the Jewish National Fund, said last night at a Jerusalem Redemption Dinner held at the Commedore Hotel. The dinner marked the opening of the J.N.F. Golden Jubilee Year.

“For the United Nations to insist on wresting Jerusalem, the ancient Jewish capital, from the hands of the Jewish people and placing it, through sheer force of arms, under the control of other powers,” Dr. Levine declared, “would mean to create another Korean situation, but in the reverse. Instead of fighting aggression, the United Nations would virtually be the aggressor.”

Dr. Levine praised the “Redemption of Jerusalem” project which was initiated by the Jewish National Fund in 1943 with a view not only to strategic considerations but also to developing religious settlements on the acquired land. He stressed the urgent need of bringing the project to a successful conclusion in the light of the new international struggle over Jerusalem.

Other speakers included Avram Harman, Counsel to the Israeli Embassy in Washington, and Leon Gellman, world president of Mizrachi. A presentation was made to Rabbi Max Kirshblum, executive vice-president of Mizrachi, in recognition of his ten years of service as chairman of the National Religious Groups Contact Department of the Jewish National Fund. Mendel N. Fisher, executive director of J.N.F., made the presentation.