Israel Bonds, frequently referred to as “the brain-child of the first Premier of Israel, David Ben Gurion,” celebrated its 30th anniversary yesterday. Sam Rothberg, general chairman of the Israel Bond Organization, presided at the dedication of a plaque in the lobby of the King David Hotel, where the conference which launched the Bond concept was held in 1950.
Dr. Renana Ben Gurion Leshem, daughter of Ben Gurion, unveiled the plaque in the presence of Israeli government leaders, including three former Cabinet Ministers and American leaders who attended the 1950 ceremony.
Among those present were Moshe Kol, who represented the Jewish Agency, and later served as Minister of Tourism; Zeev Sharef, then Secretary of the Cabinet and later Minister of Trade and Industry and Minister of Finance; Yitzhak Rafael, later Minister of Health and Religion; Esther Herlitz and Mayor Teddy Kollek, who then represented the Foreign Ministry; Rabbi Mordechai Kirshblum, then representing the U.S.Mizrahi; Julian Venezky, then chairman of the executive committee of the United Jewish Appeal; and Rothberg, who was then national chairman of major gifts of the UJA.
Prior to the dedication of the plaque, Venezky read the four-point program adopted at the 1950 conference, which resolved that the government of Israel float a public loan in the U.S. Other points stressed were the importance of expanding UJA activities, the importance of expanding private investments in Israel, and the necessity of convening a national conference of American Jews to adopt the conclusions of the Jerusalem conference.
Rothberg paid tribute to Henry Montor, first head of the Israel Bond Organization, and to the late Dr. Joseph Schwartz, who replaced Montor.
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