“many Thousands” of Jews May Migrate from U.S.S.R. to Israel, Zionist Congress Hears

Many thousands” of Jews may come from the Soviet Union to Israel in the future, Itzhak Raphael, head of the Jewish Agency’s immigration department, indicated today at the World Zionist Congress. He said that the recent arrival of several Jews from Russia to Join their relatives is a sign that a serious diplomatic attempt in Moscow may achieve the uniting of thousands of families some of whose members live in Israel and others in the U.S.S.R.

Mr. Raphael said that of the 600,000 Jews expected to immigrate to the Jewish state in the next three years some 400,000 are from Oriental countries. Health work must be done among them, under Israeli direction in advance of immigration. He expressed the hope that Hungary would eventually agree to permit the emigration of a large number of its 130,000 Jews. He also thought that the legitimate and orderly evacuation of the Jewish communities of Yemen and Iraq held hope that similar arrangements could be made with other Arab states, including Egypt.

A four-year plan to place 4,000,000 dunams (1,000,000 acres) of land under irrigation and to settle 25 percent of Israel’s anticipated 2,000,000 population, was presented to the Congress today by Levi Eshkol, head of the Agency’s Settlement Department. The plan would enable Israel to export surplus agricultural products for foreign exchange. At the end of the four-year period, Mr. Eshkol told the Congress, Israel’s dependence on outside sources for food would be primarily in poultry.

The plan calls for mixed farming, not on the basis of having each farm produce a little of everything but rather of having it specialize in crops most suitable to the particular area and, in addition, produce such essentials as poultry and vegetables. Israel agriculture at the end of that period would also provide raw materials such as vegetable oil, sugar and tobacco for the pharmaceutical and other industries,

Implementation of this plan, Eshkol reported, will require a total expenditure of 215,000,000 pounds ($502,000,000) of which 156,000,000 pounds ($436,800,000, would be required before the end of the four years. Of this amount, he said, 58,000,000 ($162,400,000) would be required in foreign exchange.