In a ceremony in the Roosevelt Room of the White House last Friday, a delegation of leaders of the Zionist Organization of America formally presented a 100,000-signature petition addressed to President Carter urging him “as a matter of good faith and public confidence” to fulfill the July 1976 Democratic Party Platform by moving the United States Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and by recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel.
Noting that it was “unconscionable that the United States still held to the outdated position of supporting an internationalization of the city and morally indefensible that the Administration views parts of the city as occupied territory,” Ivan-J. Novick, ZOA president and leader of the delegation, expressed determination to continue the campaign until over a million names have been gathered so that the President “will have to take into consideration the depth of concern of the entire Jewish community, as well as many non-Jews on this issue.”
Accepting the petition on behalf of Carter was Edward Sanders, Carter’s special advisor. Sanders told the ZOA leaders that he was “delighted” they had come to the White House. “You are here exercising a fundamental right of a U.S. citizen, and that is to petition your government. I want you to know that you are being received warmly and openly,” he said, “and that I understand the deep feeling that has prompted you to prepare this petition. I will see to it that it gets to the President with the same sense of urgency that you have conveyed it to me.” Sanders added, “I know the President will be interested in your views, and I am sure you will be hearing from him.”
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.
