Fr iday, Nov. 29, 1963 — THE DETROIT JE WISH NEWS — 26
Zionism Is 'Tradition' With Butler, England's New Foreign Secretary
By S. J. GOLDSMITH
(JTA Correspondent in London)
(Copyright, 1963, JTA, Inc.)
LONDON—The tradition that
the Prime Minister is his own
Foreign Secretary, though an-
other member of the cabinet
occupies the office and gets the
salary, has come to an end with
the appointment of R. A. Butler
to this office.
This may be a break of a tem-
porary character, but it is a
fact that R. A. Butler, who has
missed the Premiership by
inches, as it were, is in com-
plete command of the Foreign
Office, the way Curzon and Bal-
four used to be before Neville
Chamberlain introduced the new
system, which was followed by
Churchill. Eden and Macmillan.
There is something in foreign
affairs which fascinates every
politician (recent Zionist history
bears this out, by the way). And
the new Premier, Sir Alec
Douglas-Home, is himself a for-
mer Foreign Secretary. Never-
theless, he no longer has a di-
rect say in foreign affairs. As
it is, he had great trouble in
persuading Butler to join his
government. By tacit agreement
he renounced any intention to
interfere in foreign affairs.
It is interesting to have a
look at Butler's record in re-
gard to the Middle East gener-
ally and Israel specifically. as
well as at his attitude to Jews
and Zionism.
They used to say between
the wars that the acid test for
a British statesman is his atti-
tude to Indian independence
and to Zionism. I believe it
was Lloyd George who had
said it. There were some who
passed this test on a 50 per
cent basis. Churchill, for ex-
ample, was a Zionist all his
life, but he used to oppose
withdrawal from India. On the
other hand, Atlee, the Prime
Minister, who did withdraw
from India, remains hostile
to Israel and Zionism.
It can be said of Butler that
he has passed his test at 100
per cent. He was born in India,
understands her spirit and was
always in favor of early inde-
pendence for the sub-continent.
As far as Zionism is concerned,
it is a tradition with the Butler
family. An uncle of the Foreign
Secretary was one of the orig-
inal Anglo-Zionists in the days
of Oliphant in the 19th century.
He had written a book called
"Israel."
Butler once told me an amus-
ing story about it. The leather
binding of the book had on its
back "Israel" and "Butler"—
title and author—in the usual
way. Thereupon an anti-Semitic
writer, who had caught sight of
the book, called him "Israel
Butler" in a polemical piece.
Another member of the Btit-
ler family, Sir Montague, a for-
mer Lord Mayor of Cambridge
(all the Butlers are Cambridge),
helped many Jewish refugees
to settle in the famous univer-
sity city and to resume their
work at the university. It was
he who had appointed a Jewish
Eshkol Concerned U.S.
Appeasing Arabs in UN
JERUSALEM, (JTA) — Pre-
mier Levi Eshkol called in
American Ambassador Wal-
worth Barbour to convey what
was reported to be Israel's con-
cern and misgivings over the
changed stand by the United
States in the United Nations on
the Arab refugee problem.
It was assumed that the Pre-
mier expressed concern about
the possibility that the United
States was appeasing the Arabs
in its revised formulation of its
previously submitted draft to
the General Assembly's Special
refugee from Germany as medi-
cal officer of the place and
stuck to his original position in
the face of criticism from va-
rious quarters.
R. A. Butler continues this
tradition as a matter of course.
He has no racial or religious
prejudices whatsoever. Butler
was an Anglo-Zionist over a
number of years.
The Foreign Secretary re-
mains an avowed friend of
Israel, but Britain's influence
in the Middle East is not what
it used to be and her hold on
the area is flimsy. Experience
has shown that a Foreign Sec-
retary, or even a Prime Min-
ister, cannot always give ex-
pression to his personal in-
clinations, especially when it
comes to Israel. Churchill
once remarked that even the
Prime Minister cannot always
do what he thinks is just and
fair and reasonable. He was
speaking while he was the
holder of this office and was
referring to the refusal by
the Treasury of a loan to
Israel.
Butler made his own impact
on the Jewish community in
Britain through his Education
Act. In 1944, Butler, as Minister
of Education, framed the legis-
lation upon which the present
educational system in Britain is
based.
For the first time in history,
this act accords religious minor-
ities the right to give their
children religious instruction in
their own faith in government
and municipal schools, or in pri-
vate schools enjoying state-aid.
Most schools used to be amena-
ble to Jews—and Catholics—
another minority — daring so
even before the Butler Act, but
now religious minorities do it
as of right, while before 1944
they did it on sufferance.
Butler made history by per-
sonally addressing the Board of
Deputies of British Jews about
its provisions. It was for the
first time that a senior Minister
of the Crown acknowledged the
special interests of a minority
by addressing its representative
body on a matter of legislation.
British Jews consider this a
milestone in Anglo-Jewish his-
tory.
One-Time Radio Star
Installed as Cantor
BRIDGEPORT, Conn., (JTA)
—H. Richard Brown, who was
installed at weekend services
as cantor of Cong. Bnai Israel
here, is the Dick Brown of the
ABC radio's one-time success
"Stop the Music."
Brown had been on a radio
show of his own and on TV pro-
grams. After his marriage in
1957, he decided to follow his
father's cantorial tradition and
attended Hebrew Union College.
He served at Temple Judea in
Coral Gables, Fla., before he
was called to Bridgeport.
His brother Jack, a soloist
with the Mitch Miller NBC
troupe, sang a portion of the.
service.
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