More than 25,000 new immigrants have entered Israel since last August, and the number of immigrants will rise to 30,000 by August, 1955, it was disclosed here by Dr. Giora Josephtal, treasurer of the Jewish Agency. Since the establishment of the State, he added, more than 750,000 immigrants have arrived in Israel.
Sixty percent of the newcomers have been sent directly to new settlements, and another 25 percent have gone to development areas. Six new settlements have been established since May, he continued, and another 16 will have been established in the Lachish area and other parts of the country by October. Figures showed, it was also revealed, that the cost of maintenance for one family in a new settlement for the first year is 8,000 pounds.
Referring to other settlement projects, Dr. Josephtal announced that new immigrants would be sent to Eilat, Demona, in the Negev, and Afikim, in the northern Negev. All these agricultural townships are slated to become centers of large agricultural areas. Other foci of settlement will be Nazareth and Tarshich in Upper Galilee, where several hundred housing units are now under construction.
Dr. Josephtal indicated that it would be difficult to continue sending 60 percent of the newcomers directly to new settlements because of a lack of funds. He stressed the fact that the United Jewish Appeal’s income now was higher than last year. He also stressed that the Jewish Agency had repaid $23,000,000 of the $86,000,000 consolidation loan received from the United States.
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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.
