“Three years of peak immigration into Israel has brought intense human suffering in its wake,” Louis A. Pincus, treasurer of the Jewish Agency, declared today at a press conference held at the national headquarters here of the United Jewish Appeal.
The heavy immigration which Israel has received over the past three years, during which tens of thousands of Jews have entered the country, represents a “brilliant achievement” on the part of Israel’s people and the United Jewish Appeal and other supporters abroad who have provided much of the funds which made this influx possible, Mr. Pincus said.
He stressed, however, that the process of absorbing the newcomers has fallen far behind the pace of immigration. “The backlog in housing is a staggering one,” he stated. “More than 14,000 persons are still in ma’abarot–immigrant shanty towns; and more than 30,000 families, composed of five to eight persons, still live in one to one-and-a-half-room apartments.”
Mr. Pincus said that housing shortages, coupled with the slow pace of immigrant absorption, are creating serious social problems for large sections of Israel’s population. “The unsatisfactory housing situation carries far-reaching implications for mental and social health. Young immigrants have no place to do their homework, Young married couples continue to live with their parents and intensify the overcrowding. If these and other social problems are not remedied, they could mar the basis of real democracy in the country.”
The Jewish Agency treasurer stressed that, in the final sense, the new immigration to Israel must be considered “a blessing.” But he emphasized that it will require far more increased support on the part of American Jews through the United Jewish Appeal, to overcome the problems which have been attendant on immigration. He declared that, with the same high pace of immigration in prospect for 1964, “an adjustment in the sharing of the burden between Jews of Israel and those outside of Israel is imperative.”
Officials of the United Jewish Appeal noted at the conference that UJA funds in 1964 were intended to help at least 342,000 persons in Israel, including both recent and earlier arrivals. Some 85,000 would be helped through the Joint Distribution Committee, and the remainder through the Jewish Agency, Inc.
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.
