The Israel Government is contemplating removing building controls iman attempt to pull the construction industry out of the doldrums and thus provide jobs for many of the nation’s jobless, Peretz Bernstein, Minister of Trade and Industry, revealed on a nationwide radio broadcast last night.
The Minister also disclosed that the government would move toward removal of all controls in the economy in the hopes of curing its troubles by the introduction of “freedom of enterprise. ” He announced that his Ministry would drop the prosecution of minor infractions of former economic controls.
Communications Minister Joseph Saphir, a General Zionist leader, today warned the population not to expect “overnight improvement” in the economic situation. He emphasized that Israel must increase its industrial output greatly and export more I to overcome its economic difficulties. The General Zionist members of the Israel Cabinet, addressing a national council meeting here of the centrist party, called for greater sacrifices to assure Israel’s economic recovery, which they said can only be effected after a lengthy period of time. The speakers said “severe” cuts in the number of government employees will be made, while subsidies to certain industries will be decreased. A demand for liberalization of foreign currency control in order to “encourage the flow of foreign capital” was also voiced by the Ministers.
The Cabinet members said that the General Zionists in the coalition would not agree to any change in the basic principle “laid down when the new coalition was established” to free education from “party influence.”
The Israel freighter S.S. Kineret sailed from Haifa last night for the Black Sea port of Odessa with a cargo of 30,000 cases of citrus fruit and 40 tons of bananas. This is the third citrus consignment for the Soviet Union during the current citrus season. The Israel transport, S.S. Tsfonit, returned yesterday from Russia where she discharged a cargo of citrus products. The vessel brought 2,000 sheep from Turkey.
Israel has exported over 1,600,000 cases of citrus fruit during the current season, it was announced. Major quantities were shipped to Britain, Norway, U. S. S. R., Finland, Holland, Sweden, Denmark and small shipments went to Austria, Yugoslavia, Poland and Eire.
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