U.J.A. Allocated $280,000,000 to Israel Since State’s Existence

In the four years of Israel’s existence, American Jews have enabled the United Jewish Appeal to allocate close to $280,000,000 for immigration, settlement, welfare and rehabilitation programs in the new state and “from this unprecedented record of achievement can draw satisfaction and pride in helping to build a vigorous addition to the world’s democratic forces, “Edward M.M. Warburg, U.J.A. general chairman, declared today in a message hailing Israel’s fourth anniversary which will be celebrated this Wednesday.

“Israel’s fourth anniversary,” Mr. Warburg declared, “is a momentous event for liberty-loving people everywhere. In its four years of existence, the new state has astonished both its friends and its enemies with its courage in the face of hardship and its zeal for constructive endeavor. The free world may be especially pleased that in Israel there is not only respect for the democratic ideal, but stubborn dedication to it. It is this dedication to democratic principle that is at the root of Israel’s present difficulties.”

American Jewry’s help for the State of Israel, Mr. Warburg reported, has already attained monumental size, with a total of $277,795,000 allocated by the United Jewish Appeal to its two constituent agencies operating in the new state. These are the United Israel Appeal, which received $216,500,000 in U.J.A. funds, and the Joint Distribution Committee, which for the conduct of programs in Israel exclusive of its other activities has utilized some $61,295,000.

This four-year record of U.J.A. aid to Israel, he added, has financed the entry of more than 700,000 homeless Jews, and helped in the establishment of 288 agricultural settlements, the construction of more than 125,000 immigrant housing units, 124 immigrant work villages, a network of rehabilitation clinics, hospitals, sanatoria and workshops, and has placed many thousands of formerly neglected acres under cultivation as a result of the development of irrigation projects and other water resources.

He called upon American Jews to make it possible for the United Jewish Appeal to finance the establishment of another 100 agricultural settlements, the construction of an additional 21,000 housing units, the creation and expansion of 22,000 small immigrant farms, the building of another 40 immigrant work villages and the purchase of sorely needed pipe and pumping equipment to maintain the pace of irrigation and water development.