The solution of Israel’s economic problems will precede the establishment of peace and friendly intercourse with the Arab countries. Israel’s Foreign Minister Moshe Sharett declared here today, accepting the 1951 Stephen S. Wise Award for outstanding contributions to the growth and development of the Jewish State.
The award, bearing a cash value of $1,000, was presented to Mr. Sharett by Dr. Israel Goldstein, president of the American Jewish Congress, at a luncheon in his honor at the Stephen Wise Congress House, attended by more than 150 Jewish and civil leaders. In addition to Mr. Sharett, others named winners of the 1951 awards were Dr. Nahum Goldmann, acting president of the World Jewish Congress and cochairman of the Jewish Agency, Prof. Zachariah Chafee, Jr., of Harvard University, and Ernest Bloch, noted composer.
Presenting the award to Mr. Sharett, Dr. Goldstein lauded him as one of the “prime architects of the State of Israel” and as “one of its finest advocates before the bar of world opinion.” Continuing on the same theme, the text of the award states that Mr. Sharett “as the eloquent spokesman of Israel’s ideals of justice, peace and human rights, has brought into the international sphere the ancient Jewish prophetic tradition of universal ethics and morality.”
Accepting the award. Mr. Sharett said that the money would be devoted to the assistance of one or more Israeli students in the United States who will be selected by the Israel Consulate here. However, he stipulated that the beneficiaries should in later years repay the amount they received and thus set up a revolving fund to aid Israeli students.
The Foreign Minister emphasized the need for strengthening the ties between Israel and Jews throughout the world. “Strengthening of these ties,” he said, “would result in a world-wide companionship of the Jewish people, not only in helping Israel but in reviving the ancient values of Jewish cultural life and filling Jewish life with new creative content.”
“I consider it to be an integral part of the duties and functions of the Foreign Ministry of Israel to nurture and foster this field of Israel’s external relations, namely its relations with the Jewish people, “Mr. Sharett pointed out.
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.
