$75,000,000 Israel Bond Drive Launched; $11,154,150 Raised at Opening

The Israel bond campaign for 1956 was launched today at a national conference here at which it was decided to respond to Israel’s urgent plea for economic aid by selling $75,000,000 in bonds during the current year. Pre-campaign subscriptions amounting to $11,154,150 were announced at the conference by Morris W. Berinstein, national campaign chairman, who reported that $42,318,550 were raised in 1955.

Mr. Berinstein reported that since the Israel Government first initiated the sale of Israel bonds in May of 1951 the sum of $227,749,600 has been made available to Israel for expansion of Israel industry, development of agriculture, exploitation of natural resources and the building of roads and communications.

Dr. Joseph Schwartz, vice-president of the Israel Bond Organization, reported that standards for increased purchases of Israel bonds for 1956 were established by men and women who had subscribed in specially designated categories. He announced that in 1956, 260 persons had become Trustees of the Guardians of Israel through individual subscriptions of $10,000 or more in Israel bonds. A total of 2,845 men qualified as Guardians of Israel by purchasing $1,000 or more in bonds and 957 women became Sponsors as a result of subscriptions in the same denomination. Abraham Feinberg, president of the organization, said that as result of the bond drive, some 800,000 immigrants have been absorbed in the Jewish State.

ISRAEL’S FEARS STRESSED; STEVENSON URGES U.S. ARMS FOR ISRAEL

David Horowitz, governor of the Central Bank of Israel, declared that “at any moment we may become the object of ruthless and reckless aggression.” Discussing the present economic position, Mr. Horowitz reported that the country is now diverting an overwhelming proportion of its resources to defense. While Israel is prepared to shoulder the burden of defense, he said, development cannot be stopped “because economic development is a deterrent of aggression and the backbone of the country’s defenses in case of war.”

Adlai Stevenson, contender for the Democratic Presidential nomination, sent a message to the 900 Jewish leaders attending the conference, in which he called for immediate shipment of arms to Israel by the United States and other Western powers, to counteract Soviet arms shipments to Egypt.

Pointing out that “Russia must not be allowed to inflame the Middle East by upsetting a delicate balance which has deterred large-scale military action since, 1949, “Mr. Stevenson said. We cannot meet Russian action in the Middle East with inaction. They deliver the arms of war with extraordinary speed. We must counter just as quickly with a long-term and more constructive program. The first step should be to restore an equitable balance of armed strength which will restrain aggressive military action from either side. Then the other steps, economic aid, long-term security and peace, will have a chance.

Mr. Stevenson warned that U.S. efforts to keep the Arab nations from joining “the Eastern camp must not be made at the expense of a proved friend of the United States and the West Israel. He stressed that it “must be our common purpose that aggression and force do not disturb present boundaries between Israel and her neighbors,” and urged that provision should be made for the restraining effect of an equitable balance of military strength during the period of probing for a long-term solution.

Dr. Abba H. Silver, chairman of the Israel bond board of governors, said: “Sound economy toward which the Government of Israel has been steadily moving is the surest guarantee for an ultimate solution of its political problems. That, and the stout hearts and firm resolutions of the Israelis themselves, who have built their country with such zeal and vision, and who can be relied upon to defend it with their very lives. Whatever support is given to the State of Israel through purchase of Israel bonds helps to undergird its economy and to strengthen the hand of its defender,” he pointed out.

Nothing that former President Truman had complained in his memoirs of the negative attitude of the specialists on the Near East in the State Department when Mr. Truman sought to promote the establishment of the State of Israel; Dr. Silver said: “Our State Department at the present time still harbors these same specialists and they are still, almost without exception, unfriendly to the idea of a Jewish State. They are still trying to put it over on the President and our Secretary of State. Other principal speakers included Dr. Joseph Burg. Israel Minister of Posts and Telegraphs; Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt and Leon H. Keyserling.