The first meeting of the Jerusalem members of the newly elected World Zionist Executive took place here today. Berl Locker was elected chairman of the executive and was put in charge of public relations. Dr. Israel Goldstein of New York was elected treasurer. He will return to the United States on Monday, but is scheduled to assume his office here within a month.
Another American elected to serve on the Jerusalem executive is Haim Greenberg, Laborite. He will be in charge of the Education and Culture Department, but is not expected to assume his duties immediately. Other portfolios were divided among the members of the Jerusalem executive as follows:
Rabbi Wolf Gold, Mizrachi, is in charge of the Jerusalem developments department; Eliahu Dobkin, Laborite, will head the organizational department; Itzhak Werfel, Mizrachi, will be in charge of the housing program for refugee immigrants; Jacob Zerubavel, United Workers Party, will be responsible for the department to care for Oriental Jews; Moshe Kolodny, General Zionist, will continue to head the Youth Aliyah movement, and Levi Shkolnik, Laborite, will be responsible for colonization and agriculture. Eliezer Kaplan, Laborite, and S.Z. Shragai, Mizrachi, were given no portfolio.
The economics department, under Grossman, has been charged with four functions. They are: mobilization of private capital for investment in Israel; supplying information abroad of the economic development of Israel; foster an Israeli export program and, build up a tourist trade for Israel.
David Remez, Communications Minister, and Aaron Zisling, Agriculture Minister, both members of the special Cabinet committee on Jerusalem, attended today’s meeting to participate in the discussion on education. The problem is becoming acute because schools throughout Jerusalem and Israel are scheduled to open next week and the Agency has taken no action to offer financial aid despite the fact that the school system is in financial difficulties.
GOLDSTEIN SEES JEWISH AGENCY BUDGET OF $192,000,000 FOR THIS YEAR
At a press conference later today, Dr. Goldstein said that he foresaw a budget of $192,000,000 for the Jewish Agency this year. Of this sum about $72,000,000 will be allocated for immigration and $24,000,000 for colonization, he said, adding that the rest would be divided among the various other projects supported by the Agency, with special attention being paid to the problem of developing Jerusalem.
The immigration rate to Israel is expected to be about 10,000 per month, he declared. The figure will vary according to “the needs of the DP’s” and the ability of Israel to absorb them, “It is up to the Jewish people to determine how large the immigration program shall be,” he stressed.
He estimated that this year, as in the past, from 65 to 75 percent of the Agency’s receipts will come from American Jewry. He made a special appeal through the Jewish Telegraphic Agency to the Jews of the United States to continue their contributions for the development of Israel, to increase immigration and colonization and the absorption of immigrants within the economy of the country. The Agency will not contribute to Israel’s current needs, Dr. Goldstein stressed.
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.
