Eshkol Denies Israel Is Seeking Territorial
Gains, Describes Country's Industrial Aims
years he was confronted with mon-
Special To Jewish News
NEW YORK. — Israel's Prime umental problems. He was under
Minister Levi Eshkol, in the last constant pressure to gather in the
of the series of speeches he de- funds needd to sustain the econ-
livered at functions that were ar- omy. He had to formulate the plans
ranged at his current visit here, and policies that gave direction to
after the successful conferences in the development of the young
Washington with President John- struggling nation. His faith in the
son, placed emphasis on the follow- major importance of the spirit of
ing objectives of his government: poneering led him to make deci-
Israel is bent upon laboring
sions which produced the miracle
within her borders and has no
of a booming economic structure."
other territorial ambitions.
Asserting that neither cour-
Striving and hoping for peace,
age nor idealism alone could sus-
Israel nevertheless must assure
tain the State of Israel, Dr. Jo-
proper defense for her people
seph J. Schwartz, vice president
and is doing so.
of the Israel Bond Organization,
declared that Israel Bonds gave
Israel must exploit deep nu-
clear energy as a source of
power and is grateful to Presi-
dent Johnson for his offer to
aid in that objective.
Eshkol presented his views at a
NEW YORK (JTA) — Israel's
dinner attended by 500 Israel Bond
Organization leaders from many Prime Minister Levi Eshkol left
states at the Waldorf Astoria, Sat- New York Sunday aboard a U.S.
Air Force special plane after his
urday night.
(Detroiters at the Israel Bond busy four-day visit during which
function were Phillip Stollman, Mr. he was honored by the City of New
and Mrs. Philip Slomovitz and Irv- York, by United Nations Secretary-
General U Thant, by Adlai E.
ing I. Katz.)
Eshkol said Israel required Stevenson, permanent representa-
greater Israel Bond resources to tive of the United States to the UN,
finance the exploration and ex- and by leading Jewish *organiza-
ploitation of natural resources, tions.
to improve and expand its agri-
The Eshkol party landed later at
cultural output and to double Cape Kennedy, Fla., where they
Israel's industrial production, visited the facilities of the space
which he said has more than center and later departed aboard a
trebled since the establishment U.S. Air Force special flight for
of the state in 1948.
Houston, Texas. From Texas, the
He cited the industrialization of Eshkols went on to Los Angeles
the country and the settlement of and Chicago.
the Negev and central Galilee as
Prior to his departure from
key factors in the solution of these
New York, the Israel prime min-
problems.
ister said in a television inter-
Eshkol recalled that the Israeli view that he did not consider
Bond program was initiated during Soviet Premier Khrushchev's
the difficult period 13 years ago speeches in Egypt last month a
when the three-year-old nation was "go-ahead" signal to the Arabs
confronted with overwhelming eco- to attack Israel. He expressed the
nomic and security problems. "We opinion that, in his utterances
have come a long way together against Israel during his visit
since the day in 1951 when David in Egypt, Khrushchev used
Ben-Gurion launched the Israel "much milder language" than he
Bond drive," he observed, adding, had in previous statements.
"It was a daring and bold step,
Eshkol cited the fact that Khru-
even for Ben-Gurion."
shchev mentioned Israel in connec-
Commenting on his meetings
tion with "imperialist nations" only
with President Johnson, the once on his visit. Much more indi-
Prime Minister said: "My talks cative of Russia's attitude, said the
with the President were most Israeli Prime Minister, was Khru-
valuable.. He and his associates shchev's letter several months ago
show great understanding of our to all countries, including Israel,
problems and keen interest in suggesting that all problems, in-
our progress."
cluding border disputes, be re-
Regarding Israel's relations with solved by "peaceful negotiations."
the Arab states, Eshkol declared
• SEES EVENTUAL PEACE
they had no reason to fear that
While
Eshkol thought it would
"Israel's development will lead us
to expand our borders." He said be a "good idea" for Soviet Russia
the "major thrust of Israel's de- and the United States to include
velopment now and for the future the Arab-Israel dispute in any
lies in industry," which requires negotiations they might hold
skill and scientific know - how, toward some kind of detente, he
rather than territory. "We are said that he was "not sure if the
growing not by territorial expan- time is ripe" for such talks. He re-
sion but by making two blades of vealed, however, that he had men-
grass grow where one grew before tioned the possibility in his dis-
—and making them grow taller," cussions with President Johnson.
The Premier said he was "optim-
the Israel premier explained.
Speaking in his capacity as min- istic" about the possibilities of an
ister of defense, Eshkol charac- eventually peace between Israel
terized the country's defense bur- and the Arabs. One of the reasons
den as "the grave and onerous for his optimism, he explained, was
problem which has been with us the high cost of armaments. "It
all along the route of our achieve- makes no sense to spend so much
money," he stated..
ment."
However, he declared that Arab
He expressed the opinion that
hostility "has never succeeded in maybe some day both the United
hindering our development drive. States and Russia will realize this,
If anything, it has served as an too, and will say, "Look, boys, it's
incentive to hasten the pace of our enough. We can't waste so much
growth."
mane y ."
He deplored "the high barrier
Another reason, he said, was
of hatred which our neighbors
Nasser's growing problem of rais-
have erected around us" and
ing his people's standard of
called it "one of the tragedies
living. This problem, said Eshkol,
of our time."
will grow in the coming years as
Abraham Feinberg, president of the Egyptian population in-
the Israel Bond Organization, pre- creases, and "may lead to second
sided at the dinner.
thoughts" about spending so
Stressing Eshkol's role in the much on armaments. Eshkol add-
development of Israel, Feinberg ed that he believes that there are
said:
in the Arab states, like in Israel,
"As finance minister for 11
"young students, intelligentisia,
professors" who already have
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
second thoughts about this ques-
tion. "I believe that a peace
Friday, June 12, 1964
40
the people of Israel the tools to
build a viable economy.
He pledged for the Israel Bond
efforts an $80,000,000 sale this
year.
* * *
A total of $29,724,500 in Israel
bonds was sold during the first
five months of 1964, it was re-
ported at the mid-year conference
of the board of governors of the
Israel Bond Organization.
Samuel Rothberg, national cam-
paign chairman, pointed out that
this result represented an increase
of more than 42 per cent over the
amount sold during the corres-
ponding period last year. "Sub-
stantial purchases by banks, trade
unions, pension funds and insur-
ance companies have reflected an
increasing amount of confidence
in Israel's economic potential," he
asserted.
Louis H. Boyar of Los Angeles,
chairman of the board of gov-
ernors, pointed out that since
the start of the redemption last
year of maturing Israel bonds,
the bond program "has become
a two-way street," with pay-
ments to American investors in
principal and interest by the
State of Israel amounting to
$24,500,000 in 1963 and an esti-
mated $42,000,000 during 1964.
Major Gen. Haim Laskov, for-
mer chief of staff of the Army
of Israel, who is now serving as
the chief of its Port Authority,
told the conference that expansion
of Israel's transportation facilities
was one • of the most important
elements in Israel's development
program.
"Within the next few years we
shall have to handle more than
8,000,000 tons of dry cargo, corn-
pared to the 6,000,000 tons that
we handle now," Gen. Laskov said.
"This is one important means by
which we counter the Arab mari-
time blockade a n d commercial
blackmail."
Whirlwind New York Visit Brings Honors to Premier
Eshkol was called upon to recite
the traditional aliyah blessing over
the reading of the Torah while Mrs.
Eshkol sat in the ladies' gallery
during the services.
In a brief address during a kid-
dush reception following the serv-
ices, Eshkol mourned the fact that
great numbers of the Jewish peo-
ple who perished in the Nazi holo-
caust did not live to see the re-
building of the Jewish state. Allud-
ing to the situation of Soviet
Jewry, the Premier also noted that
even today there were millions of
Jews cut off from the mainstream
of Jewish life.
The Israel Prime Minister was
also the guest of the Overseas
Press Club during his stay here.
At a luncheon given in his honor
he told the members of the club
that Egypt is receiving immense
quantities of arms and military
equipment, of very high quality
and on very easy terms, from
Communist countries. This, he
explained, compels Israel to pre-
pare for self-defense.
Eshkol was presented by Mayor
Robert Wagner the city's highest
award, the Gold Medal of Honor,
at a reception given by the mayor
at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, at-
tended by more than 1,500 invited
guests.
Earlier in the morning, Mayor
Wagner and the civic establishment
of the City of New York accorded
him a warm welcome at City Hall
ceremonies. At festive ceremonies,
the mayor presented Eshkol with
the keys to the city.
Eshkol told of his affection for
New York, reminiscing that when
he was a boy in Czarist Russia he
recalled how hope was stirred
among oppressed Jews by the ar-
rival of letters from relatives in
New York. He said that "New York
has a special place in the heart of
people of Israel. He added that
many ties of kinship, economic and
cultural exchange, linked Israel
with New York.
An outline of Israel's future
prospects -in the Near East was
given in the morning by Eshkol in
response to questions at a break-
fast tendered at the Waldorf As-
toria Hotel by the Conference of
Presidents of Major American Jew-
ish Organizations. Eshkol stressed
that, while Israel possesses human
qualities and intellectual capac-
ities, these cannot replace material
resources. He outlined economic
developments, stressed develop-
ment needs, and also commented
on social issues within Israel.
ARMY DEFENSE CENTER
FORT BLISS, Tex., ( J-T A)
Prime Minister Levi Eshkol was
welcomed by the 'U.S. Army Mon-
day at the Army Air Defense Cen-
ter here where Israeli personnel
are training to activate Israel's
guided-missile battalion.
A parade and lucheon honoring
Premier Eshkol took place. He met
with the Israeli military trainees
Touring the United States, Israeli Prime Minister Levi Eshkol here who will soon number 100.
The Israeli trainees here will re-
visits a salt water conversion plant in Freeport, Tex. Watching sea
turn to Israel as instructors in the
water being turned into fresh water, Eshkol revealed that President
use of the Hawk missile which can
Johnson had agreed to work with Israel in developing larger water
Continued on Pages 16, 17
de-salting plants for irrigation.
camp already exists in the Arab
countries," he said.
At the same time, Mr. Eshkol
pointed to the fact that Egypt has
more armaments than Israel, in-
cluding some which Israel does not
have, like missiles.
He said that he discussed several
issues with President Johnson, "in-
cluding economics and security,"
adding that he thought the 1963
statement by President Kennedy
on Middle-East aggression could
be stronger and "stated in greater
detail."
The main subject of his discus-
sions with the President, Mr. Esh-
kol said, was the desalination of
water project. He said Israel al-
ready had a pilot plant in .Eilat
which supplied drinking water
there but the aim was to desalinate
enough water for irrigation pur-
poses. The results of research, he
said, would be given to all nations.
The Premier was the guest of
the executive of the American
Section of the Jewish Agency for
Israel at a private breakfast and
also met with a delegation of the
American Jewish Committee. He
expressed to the delegation his ap-
preciation of the organization's ef-
forts "to foster closer spiritual and
cultural bonds" between the Jews
of Israel and those of the United
States. He reiterated Israel's "de-
sire to cooperate with all Jewish
groups and organizations through-
out the world seeking to maintain
and strengthen Jewish life."
Eshkol told a meeting of the
American Zionist Council that
there was a growing interest
among Israeli youth in Jewish life
in other countries and "an increas-
ing desire to ensure that the links
which unite this generation of Jews
throghout the world in affection,
joint effort and common spiritual
destiny, should remain close and
intense in the future."
He said he was proud that Israel
was being increasingly used by
Jewish communities abroad as a
spiritual resource for their own
educational growth. "This, he said,
"is reflected in the growing num-
ber of rabbis, teachers and stu-
dents who come to study Israel for
varying periods."
ATTENDS SERVICES
Eshkol attended Sabbath serv-
ices at Shearith Israel, the famed
Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue
and the oldest existing Jewish
house of worship in the United
States.
In order to be v ■ rithin walking
distance of the Orthodox syna-
gogue, Premier and Mrs. Eshkol
stayed at the home of Israel Consul
General Katriel Katz, which is two
blocks from the synagogue. Premier
Visits Salt Water Conversion Plant