Benjamin G. Browdy, president of the Zionist Organization of America, today termed as “irrevocable” the decision of the Israel Government to keep the doors of the Jewish state wide open to unlimited immigration despite the serious impact of such an influx upon the economic condition of the country.
“Israel is prepared, if necessary, to receive 1,000,000 immigrants within the next three years, and certainly a minimum of 600,000,” he said. “Prime Minister Ben Gurion described this as a matter of great urgency. The integration of 600,000 immigrants within three years will require $1,500,000,000, of which $1,000,000,000 must be forthcoming through the United Jewish Appeal, private investments, and a bond issue loan from American Jewry.”
Addressing a meeting of the national executive committee of the Z.O.A. at the Hotel Biltmore, attended by members from all parts of the country, Mr. Browdy, who last week returned from the extraordinary economic conference in Jerusalem convened by the Israel Government and the Jewish Agency, declared that although Israel is now confronted by serious economic difficulties, there is no imminence of an economic collapse. Reports to this effect are greatly exaggerated, he said. “The inflationary trend reported from sources outside of Israel is not in evidence,” he added.
CHARGES RESURGENCE OF ANTI-SEMITIC PROPAGANDA RESULTING FROM KOREAN WAR
Referring to developments on the American scence, Mr. Browdy declared that while the Z.O.A. is resolved to do its full share in the all-out effort to mobilize maximum economic aid for Israel, it is also determined to play an ever greater part in American civic affairs. The Z.O.A. president charged that “dark forces in this country, which have been thriving on racial and religious prejudices, are now engaged in exploiting the tension that has been engendered by the Korean war to intensify their anti-Jewish propaganda.”
“American Jews, as an integral part of the American community, fully and whole-heartedly support the action of our Government in Korea in its effort to halt Communist aggression,” he declared. Asserting that anti-Semitic forces in this country, by their “propaganda and activities in arousing racial and religious prejudices and dissention, are undermining the very foundation of democracy on which this country is built,” Mr. Browdy voiced the hope that the U.S. Government “will not treat these activities lightly and will, as in the case of Communistic activities, take drastic action to combat them. The Z.O.A. president said his organization will join other national Jewish organizations in this country in a “relentless fight to expose these forces and to render them harmless.”
Dr. Emanuel Neumann, former president of the Z.O.A., referring to the Jerusalem conference, said: “The discussions were marked by seriousness and a great sense of responsibility. Leaders of the Israel Government made full and frank presentations of the financial and economic problems confronting the state and documented the case for a vastly increased outlay of funds during the next three years. The proposal to launch a public loan was subjected to critical examination and the arguments pro and con carefully considered. The statement which finally emerged was adopted virtually without dissent.”
Dr. Harris J. Levine, president of the Jewish National Fund of America, said the J.N.F. decided to purchase from the Israel Development Company–the Israel Government agency in charge of enemy property–60,000 humans of land, comprising the Huleh region. He also announced that the J.N.F. has adopted a program calling for “the planting of 3,000,000 trees in Israel within the next 12 months, in a great effort to improve the soil of Israel and at the same time to provide employment for the new immigrants.”
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.
