Rep. Robert Taft Jr., a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said here tonight that “strong United States leadership is needed in bringing peace to the Middle East by promoting direct negotiations between the countries involved in the dispute within the principles of the United Nations Charter.”
Rep. Taft, an Ohio Republican, spoke at a ceremony dedicating a library to his late father, Senator Robert A. Taft, who for many years was a leading non-Jewish supporter of Zionism. Rep. Taft proposed that Article 33 of the U.N. Charter be invoked to call for solution by direct talks between the Arab countries and Israel. If such a move failed and the Soviet Union continued to arm the Arab countries, he said, “the United States must have the courage to recognize that its only alternative is to assist in further arming Israel,” as “the course of least danger.”
The dedication was a highlight of the 70th jubilee convention of the Zionist Organization of America. The library will be erected at the agricultural school of Kfar Silver, a major project of the ZOA in Israel.
BEN-GURION SAYS JUNE WAR WAS NOT LAST ARAB-ISRAEL CONFLICT
Former Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion told the 2,000 delegates and guests that the June war was not necessarily the last Arab-Israel war and that the June conflict was not yet ended. He said he came to that conclusion after listening to Egyptian President Nasser’s speech on Sunday. Stressing the need for settlement in Israel of Jews from the free world, he said that if only two or three percent of those Jews came, Israel would have thousands of newcomers each year.
Dr. Nahum Goldmann, president of the World Zionist Organization, stressed the need for a Jewish “roof” organization to coordinate efforts and work for the Jewish people and Israel. He said that world Jewry had “re-discovered Israel” as a result of the June war and that now it was Israel’s turn to “re-discover” world Jewry.
Menahen Beigin, Minister Without Portfolio and Gahal leader, said it was the duty of the Israel Government to make a resolute decision not to withdraw from occupied Arab territories until there was a final settlement and lasting peace with the Arabs. He also called for urgent and massive migration from the Western world because the future of Israel depended, he said, on such immigration.
Another event at Kfar Silver was the dedication of the Mollie Goodman High School, named in memory of the late wife of Abraham Goodman, New York Jewish and Zionist leader. The institution will be the first American high school in Israel in which English will be the main language in the lower classes but Hebrew will replace it in the higher classes. The first 20 American pupils of the school are expected soon.
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