Yigal Allon, Deputy Prime Minister of Israel, launched a special drive yesterday for the collection of $85 million in cash in the Israel Bond drive during the months of May and June. The Israeli leader spoke at a meeting of key Israel Bond leaders which was held at the Israel Embassy where Ambassador Yitzhak Rabin was the host. Allon stressed that during the first four months of the year immigration from the Soviet Union had continued at a high rate. He said this situation required accelerated effort on the economic front to provide jobs for the new arrivals.
A cabled message from Finance Minister Pinhas Sapir urged the Israel Bond Organization to conduct the special cash effort in the months of May and June. In requesting that the sum of $85 million be remitted in cash by the end of June. Sapir said that “our development program is falling dangerously behind schedule in spite of the growing demand for immediate job opportunities for Russian Jews who are now arriving in Israel at a peak rate.”
The cable was addressed to Sam Rothberg. general chairman, and Leo Bernstein, executive vice-president of Israel Bonds. Rothberg, who presided, warned that “we must not allow the Jews from the Soviet Union nor Israel’s citizens who are clamoring for better housing and living conditions to become an impossible burden on the people of Israel.”
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