American J.N.F. Decides to Establish 200 New Settlements in Israel

Plans to provide land and other facilities for the establishment of 200 new agricultural settlements along the frontiers of Israel were announced here today following a meeting of the board of directors of the Jewish National Fund of America. Dr. Harris J. Levine was re-elected at the meeting to serve his sixth consecutive term as president of the JNF in this country.

The JNF directors reviewed the current Arab-Israel tension and decided: 1. To make available to new immigrants “as quickly as humanly possible” approximately 100,000 acres of land situated along Israel’s borders “in order to expedite the establishment of 200 new agricultural frontier settlements”; 2. To accelerate the present five-year tree-planting program in Israel, which calls for the planting of 25,000,000 trees by the end of 1960; 3. To secure “ever-increasing support from the Jewish community in the United States for the historic programs of land reclamation in which the JNF has engaged for more than a half-century.”

Nothing that, since the establishment of Israel in 1948, a total of 180 new settlements have risen on Jewish National Fund land, principally in the strategic and troubled frontier areas, the board of the JNF asserted that the greatest service American Jews can render to the reduction of tension is the strengthening of Israel’s security.

“The arming of Egypt by the Soviets, which cast an ominous shadow over the Middle East, strengthens our belief that the surest way to deter acts of aggression against Israel is to make Israel as secure and as strong as possible,” the JNF board said in a statement. “The Arab leaders will not assault a strong, well-armed, well-defended Israel. For this reason, it is imperative that the establishment of 200 new settlements along Israel’s borders be accelerated, for these colonies act as outposts of freedom and, by their very existence, serve to discourage wanton attacks.”