THE DETROIT JEWISH NEW S — Friday, March 6, 1959-6
Eban's Letters of IFtesigliation, B-G's
Replies Made Public in Washington;
Nir Beats Locker for Knesset Speaker
Direct JTA Teletype Wire
to The Jewish News
WASHINGTON — Israel Am-
bassador Abba Eban, who is
also his government's perman-
ent representative to the Unit-
ed Nations, on Tuesday formal-
ly made known that he is
leaving his posts at the end of
May to return to Israel, where
he will enter the political field.
Eban is expected to run in
next November's general
elections for membership in
parliament on the ticket of
the dominant Mapai party,
and if elected to parliament,
he will probably be appointed
Foreign Minister, it was indi-
cated here.
The present Foreign Mini-
ster, Mrs. Golda Meir, has in-
dicated several times that she
does not intend to continue
in her post after the next
elections.
After Eban's return home, the
present charge d'affaires in
Washington, Yaacov Herzog,
will continue in that position at
the Washington Embassy. At
United Nations headquarters, in
New York, the current deputy
permanent representative, Jo-
seph Tekoah, will become act-
ing chairman of the Israel dele-
gation. No final decisions on
Eban's succesors to the perman-
ent posts will be made for
several months, it was under-
stood here.
Eban presented his letters of
credence to President Truman
on Sept. 5, 1950. He had plead-
ed Israel's cause before the
UN ever since Israel's estab-
lishment on May 15, 1948, and
served as permanent represent-
ative since Israel's admission to
the UN on May 11, 1949.
In accepting Eban's resigna-
tion, Prime Minister David Ben-
Gurion wrote:
"You have been able to in-
tensify the links between Amer-
ica and Israel by emphasizing
the spiritual values and politic-
al interests common to them
both. For each of our countries
is attached to the divinely con-
ceived value's of human free-
dom and to the democratic sys-
tem based on the concept of
`government of the people, by
the people, for the people.' "
Reviewing Eban's work at
activity, and • his gratitude "for
having been accorded t h e
privilege of representing our
country on the soil of the great
power which has maintained re-
lations of friendship and recog-
nition with Israel since the
early hours of our independ-
ence."
In a separate letter asking
to be relieved of his function
as permanent representative
of Israel to the UN, Eban re-
called that 11 years had pass-
ed since he was first called
upon to appear in the UN Se-
curity Council to defend
Israel's rights of sovereignty,
peace and self-defense.
"From that time to this the
UN has been a central arena
for Israel's political struggles",
Eban wrote: "It is in the UN
arena that our country has
made its first strides towards
the development of a general
foreign policy aimed at the
strengthening of peace, the
prevention of atomic conflict,
the evolution of African and
Asian peoples from. dependent
status to full sovereignty, and
the institution of international
cooperation for economic de-
velopment and the defense of
human right. Many .nations
which are now establishing di-
rect relations with us in diplo-
macy and commerce encounter-
ed us for the first time in the
UN forum."
"Above all", Eban said, "the
very spectacle of Israel in the
family of nations symbolizes
the end of the age-long disabili-
ties which our nation endured
for many centuries."
Israel Has Room For
Absorption of Many
Immigrantsi_ Eban Detlares
NEW YORK. ..{-- J 'A) = Israel
has room for the absorption of
many immigrants, Abba Eban,
Israel's Ambassador to the
United States, declared in a
television interview. He em-
phasized that Israel has not yet
reached the saturation point in
immigrant absorption.
"Our present population of
two million is living on only
about 50 percent of our land.
Half of our land contains only
one percent of our total popu-
lation," he said.
The Israel Ambassador spoke
the UN, the Prime Minister
referred to the "eager' sus- with high praise of the newly-
pense with which you have appointed United States Ambas-
been heard in the interna- sador to Israel, Ogden R. Reid.
tional forum as a result of "I have known Mr. Reid for
your strong personality and Many years," he stated, "and I
think that here is an American
arresting speech."
mind very sensitively attuned to
Ben-Gurion also stated: "It international affairs, with a
is my conviction that your inte- special insight into the problem
gration into the political life of of our region."
our country heralds many
achievements no less great than Nir Elected Speaker of
those which you have accom- Knesset; Mapai Candidate
plished as our representative Berl Locker Defeated
abroad. I am certain that the
JERUSALEM (JTA)—Seven-
strength which has sustained ety-fiv-year-old Nahum Nir was
you in your foreign service will elected Speaker of the Parlia-
be with you in even greater ment, succeeding the late Josef
measure at home."
Sprinzak, defeating the Mapai
In a letter to Ben-Gurion re- Party's candidate, Berl Locker,
leased in Jerusalem Tuesday, by a vote of 53-41.
Eban recalled conversations in
Nir received the support of
Jerusalem in which he had dis- Achdut Avoda, Mapam, the
cussed the prospect of `enter- Herut Party which originally
ing the public life of the coun- nominated him for the post,
try in the framework of its General Zionists, National Re-
parliamentary institutions." He ligious Party, and Communist
expressed his "deep apprecia- Party. The Progressive Party
tion of the encouragement" and the members of Parliament
which the Prime Minister and representing Agudath Israel ab-
Foreign Minister Golda Meir stained. There was a division al-
had given him in his aspira- so among the members of the
tion to enter this new sphere of Cabinet, three leftist Ministers
GIVE
joining the opposition to defeat
Mr. Locker. .
The election of Nir widens
the rift between Mapai and the
leftist partners of the coalition
government—Achdut Avoda and
Mapam. Until the very last
moment, Mapai made frantic
efforts to gain backing for
Locker from the former coali-
tion members, the National Re-
ligious Party, as well as from
the Progressives, who are in the
coalition and from Agudath
Israel.
The defeat for Mapai is seen
as sharper since Mr. Nir's name
for the speakership was origin-
ally proposed by the right-wing
Herut Party, and not by his
own party, the left-wing Achdut
Avoda. Warsaw-born Nir, who
received a traditional Jewish
education, is 'considered by
many as anti-clerical. However,
he told the press prior to his
election that, if chosen Speaker,
he would refrain from travel
on the Sabbath out of consider-
ation for the feelings of his re-
ligious electors.
Nir has pursued his secular
studies at St. Petersburg, later
studied at Dorpat and Zurich
Universities, and obtained a
law degree. He came to Pales-
tine in 1925. He has served in
Parliament during every session
since the rebirth of Israel. Re-
cently, he was Deputy Speaker
of Parliament.
Ground-breaking ceremonies
were held this morning for the
new Parliament on a hill over-
looking new Jerusalem. The
new building will be construct-
ed at a cost of 6,000,000 pounds
sterling ($16,800,000) bequeath-
ed for the purpose by the late
James de Rothschild of London.
Prior to the ground-breaking,
the -traditional "thirti-eth day"
ritual - memorializing the dead
was observed at the grave of
the late Speaker of the Knei-
set Josef Sprinzak in the Na-
tion Cemetery atop Mt. Herzl.
.
The Magic Barrel,'
JPS Co-Publication,
Wins Fiction Award
A poll of 2,000 booksellers
and librarians across the coun-
try was taken earlier this year
to select nominees for the best
books published in 1958 in the
fields of fiction, non-fiction and
poetry. From this poll, a lead-
ing number of contenders were
tabulated and a committee of
eminent judges made final selec-
tions.
The winner in the field of fic-
tion was "The Magic Barrel," by
Bernard Malamud, a collection
of 13 short stories co-published
in May, 1958 by Farrar, Straus
and Cudahy and the Jewish
Publication Society of America.
Upon publication, this volume
received high critical acclaim
because of the beauty of the au-
t•or's style and the spiritual
overtones of the stories.
Awards were presented to the
winning authors at a reception
held last Tuesday in the Grand
Ballroom of the Waldorf-Astoria
Hotel in New York. These
awards are sponsored annually
by the American Bdoksellers
Association, the American Book
Publishers Council and the Book
Manufacturers Institute in order
to give recognition to the most
distinguished books written by
American authors during the
preceding year.
Nazi General Maintains Adenauer
Invited Him to Join Germany Army
HAMBURG (JTA) — Bern-
hard Ramcke, former Nazi gen-
eral and convicted war criminal,
created a minor sensation in
Hamburg court when he assert-
ed Chancellor Konrad Aden-
auer had asked him to join the
new West German army.
Gen. Ramcke, appearing in
court in his libel suit against
Erich Kuby, a radio writer,
testified he had rejected the al-
leged request because many of
his former army comrades were
"still rotting in Allied prisons
for so-called war crimes."
Gen. Ramcke, who was con-
victed by a French court and
sentenced to five years at hard
labor for war crimes but freed
before he finished the first year
of his sentence, is suing Kuby
for referring to him as a
"swine" in a radio play broad-
cast recently by the Hamburg
Broadcasting Station.
Ernest Schnabel, the station
manager who was a defense
witness for Kuby, justified use
of the term, declaring that the
general had spoken of the JewS
"in terms much worse."
The court heard paSsages cit-
ed from the general's remarks
during the Hitler period, which
included statements that "the
Jews have stabbed Germany in
the back" and congratulations
to Hitler for having "eliminat-
ed the putrid influence of
Jewry."
Ramcke disappeared in Jan-
uary, 1951, just before he was
to be tried by the French court,
reappearing some months later
when the trial was held at
which he received the five-year
sentence.
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