A detailed blueprint of the provisional government for the new Jewish state, which will be headed by a 15-man Cabinet, is nearing completion, it was revealed here today by the Jewish Agency, which said that the current violence has not retarded preparations for the establishment of the state. When the U.N. Implementation Commission arrives, it will find that plans have been drafted to meet any eventuality, a spokesman said.
The blueprint dealt exclusively with civil functions, the spokesman explaining that “army or military preparations are explicitly excluded from our planning since they are purely a Haganah job.” He also pointed out that it will be the responsibility of the U.N. Commission to outline plans for a Jewish militia or other armed forces.
The plans have been drafted by a 13-member planning committee, headed by David Ben Gurion, Agency chairman, and including: Itzhak Gruenbaum, Dr. Fritz Bernstein, Kliezer Kaplan, Goldie Meiraon and Moshe Shapiro, all members of the Agency executive, and Dr. Remez, Zvi Lurie, J.R. Grabovsky, Mordecai Shatner, David Zvi Pinfcas, and Dr. George Landauer, all members of the executive of the Jewish National Council, and Dr. Granovsky, head of the Jewish National Fund.
DETAILED PLANS FOR AIL GOVT. DEPTS. WILL BE READY AT END OF THIS MONTH
The following three main sub-committees have been functioning: finance, economics, land and agriculture; transport, communications, posts, telegraph, civil aviation, police, prisons and general and, district administrators; and health, education, immigration, labor, social welfare and information.
The top planning committee appointed the following sub-committees; a legal committee to draft a legal system and advise on legislation; a committee on foreign affairs and a committee on the city of Jerusalem. All committees will have their reports and recommendations ready by the end of this month, and some have already completed their work.
The spokesman revealed that selection of subordinate personnel has already begun and that many present government officials, including Britons and Arabs, have expressed willingness to serve the new Jewish state.
The constitution of the state will be drafted by a Constituent Assembly, which will be chosen in a manner determined by the Implementation Commission, but a skeleton framework of the constitution already exists, it was disclosed.
The first-year budget of the new states has been estimated at between $50,000,000 and $60,000,000. The site for the capital has not yet been fixed.
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.
