Israel in Grip of Worst Crisis, William Rosenwald Reports

Israel is in the grip of the worst crisis to confront it as a result of a dollar shortage that has cut its food supply and is impeding settlement of many thousands of immigrant refugees, William Rosenwald, a national chairman of the United Jewish Appeal, said here today on his return from a three-month survey of overseas needs.

“While I am deeply impressed by Israel’s achievements,” he said, “I am deeply disturbed by the lowered morale of its people as a result of the many grave shortages of food, housing and health facilities.” He said that “if Israel a few weeks ago had been in a position to acquire emergency food imports costing $16,000,000, this would have been sufficient to tide the country over until its fall crops could be distributed.”

He warned that the food shortage “has hit especially hard at Israel’s immigrants, 250,000 of whom are in reception camps and work villages.” While most of the new comers are constructively employed, he said, they are not yet productive of anything exportable and convertible into foreign exchange.

He lauded Israel’s immigration policy as “the bravest and most courageous ever undertaken by a newly established state” and added that the UJA special $35,000,000 cash drive had been undertaken in part to move an additional 60,000 Jews from Rumania, Iran and Libya to Israel before the end of the year.

The U.J.A. leader said that liquidation of the International Refugee Organization will cause untold hardships to thousands of displaced persons, would leave many problems unsolved and “cause new ones whose significance cannot be exaggerated.” Despite progress in emptying DP camps, 25,000 Jews will remain in Germany, he said, and stressed the problem of the hard-core cases.

Mr. Rosenwald will serve as chairman of the U.J.A.’s special campaign to raise $35,000,000 in cash before the end of the year.