Personality Sketches: David A. Brown Reaches 75 Samuel H. Rubiner 50 Next Week E JEWISH NEWS Jewish Events A Weekly Review 1E1 of Stories on Pages 6, 7 VOLUME 18 — No. 7 708-10 David Stott Bldg.—Phone WO. 5-1155 Detroit, Michigan, October 27, 1950 togilik. . 7 Give to and Work for the Torch Drive $3.00 Per Year; Single Copy, 10c. U. S. Steel Sales to Near East Threaten -Haifa Oil Line's Life Direct JTA Teletype Wires to The Jewish News David Ben-Gurion Due to Return to Israel Leadership Direct Jewish News Teletype Wires from JTA and Special Correspondents Histadrut Fights Disease:A Yeme- nite woman being examined for trachoma by a doctor_ of Kupat Holim, Histadrut Medical Service, at a reception center near Athlit. The dread eye diSease of the East must alWays be guatcled against in view of the steady influx of Near East migrants to the Jewish State. Contrary to a United Press report on Wednesday morning that Pinhas Rosen, Minister of Justice and head of the Progressive Party, had succeeded in forming a new coalition government to be headed by David-Ben-Gurion, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported to The Jewish News at noon on Wednes- day that Mr. Rosen had returned his mandate to President Chaim Weizmann and that his efforts at reorganizing the government had failed. From all indications, however, Mr. Ben-Gurion soon will be back at the helm of Israel's government and the crisis is due to be solved within a few days. Upon receiving the report from Dr. Rosen that he had failed to bridge divergencies between parties, he was thanked by President Weizmann who made plans to receive leaders of other pa-rties during-the mining few days for further consultations on the situation. - As Old As Bnai. Brith: As Bnai Brith observes its 107th anniversary, birthday candles are lit by HARRY GANN, who recently celebrated his own 107th birth- day at the Hebrew Home for Aged in Washington, D. C., where he is a life member of Bnai Brith's Argo Lodge. With -him is one of- the youngest members of Bnai Brith's family, -SAM SLONIN, 16, a member of Wilner Chapter-of AZ,A in the Nation's Capital. Minister of Justice Rosen had attempted to effect a compromise between Premier Ben-• Gurion'S Labor Party and the religious bloc on issues which precipitated the crisis betwetn the coalition partners, with the objective of establishing a stable govern- ment and thereby eliminating the need for new parliamentary elections. Dr. Rosen told a press conference c in Jerusalem on Tues- day' that he was unable to state whether or not the situation had become worse since the orthodox , group was standing film on its religious demands. If his efforts fail— as they are reported to have failed on We& nesday morning—he said he would be un- able to continue with his negotiations. Members of the Mapai political com- mittee and parliamentary group met in a four-hour session Tuesday night to con- sider the situation. It was disclosed by spokesmen for the group that the meeting had adopted a final provision on the Cab- Met crisis reaffirming the coalition's pro- gram of March, 1949, as well as recent decisions on economic policy announced to the Knesset. Mapai asserted that unless a stable government is established by next week (Continued on Page 2) WASHINGTON — An American steel shipment is on its way to the Near East for the construction of an oil pipeline which will by-pass the Haifa refineries and permit oil from the fields of Iraq to flow to the eastern Mediterranean without passing through Israel territory, the Jewish Tele- graphic Agency learned Tuesday. The line would duplicate facilities presently terminat- ing in Haifa. This shipment, the existence of which was admitted by the Commerce Department - only after repeated inquiries by the JTA will aid the Arab economic boycott of the Jewish state. Completion of the new line would practically kill all hopes of ever reopening the existing pipeline to Haifa and would have a disastrous effect on the future opera- tions of the Haifa refineries, now operating at one-thirthcapacity because of the boycott. Although the Commerce Department originally denied the fact that American steel was enroute to the Near East, State De- partment sources and officials of the Con- solidated. Western Steel Corporation of Maywood, Calif., admitted to the JTA that the first shipment left Long Beach, Calif., on. Sept. 27 aboard the S. S. Middlesex Trader. The shipment was covered by a Commerce Department license issued to the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey, according to of-. ficials of. Western _Consolidated Steel. ' : - When the Commerce Department changed its story it admitted that 15,000 tons of steel had already_ been shipped. Other government sources said that other Commerce Department licenses will eventually cover the export of 50,000 tons of steel for the construction of a 30-inch pipeline from the Kirkuk fields of Iraq to Banias, Syria— a total of 555 miles. Allocation of steel for the projected Near Eastern pipeline means that the United States—the only manufacturer of this size pipe—is committed to the export of 190,000 tons of steel needed to complete the project. State Department sources said -the U. S. de- sires that the flow of Arab oil be expedited to At-. lantic pact countries. This indicates approval for the project despite Arab refusal to resume the flow of oil through the Haifa line. Texas oil men nave pointed out that the steel involved in the proposed duplicate line would make possible the drilling of 4,800 oil wells in this country. It might also be used, they said, for the completion of the West Texas-California pipeline for which steel allocations have been held up since the outbreak of the Korean war . - Sources indicated that the arrangements for the pipe line were made with the Iraq Petroleuni Co., Standard Oil of New Jersey and Socony Vacuum, French interests, and Shell Oil. Largest Jewish Assembly in History of U.S. Opens Today Hon.. Abba Eban Eliezer Kaplan Leon Keyserling The most important and representative assembly of Jews to be held in the United States in the past decade, opens today •at the Statler Hotel in Washington, D. C. More than 1,000 delegates, representing the leader- ship of 42 national Jewish organizations and more than 500 Jewish corn- munities throughout the country are participating in the National Plan- ning Conference for Israel and Jewish Rehabilitation. Evidence of the importance which the Government of Israel attaches •to the Washington meeting is the fact that despite the present political crisis, both Finance Minister. Eliezer Kaplan and Labor Minister Golda Hon. John W. Snyder Henry Morgenthau, Jr. Hon. Golda Myerson Myerson have made a special trip here to participate in the National Plan- ning Conference. The other leaders from Israel who will address the meet- ing are Ambassador Abba Eban ; Berl Locker, chairman, and Levi Echkol, treasurer of the Jewish Agency for Palestine, and Henry Morgenthau, Jr., general chairman of the United Jewish Appeal. Joining with the Israeli leaders in the deliberations will be some of American's most distinguished personalities, including John W. Snyder, United States Secretary of the Treasury, and Leon Keyserling, chairman of President Truman's Council of Economic. Advisers.