American-israel Cultural Exchange Program Announced by Histadrut

An extensive cultural exchange program embracing faculties and graduate students of American universities and laymen concerned with social problems was announced here Thursday at a luncheon presided over by Dr. Sol Stein, executive director of the Israel Histadrut Campaign.

The program will be carried out under an agreement reached between the Histadrut’s department for higher education in Israel and the American Histadrut Cultural Exchange Institute. The chief negotiators of the agreement were Yeshayahu Avrech, head of Histadrut’s department for higher education and Dr. Judd L. Teller, executive vice-chairman of the Institute, which was founded by the Israel Histadrut Campaign.

In outlining the major points of the program, Dr. Teller said they include the acceleration of the seminars and academic conferences the Institute has been sponsoring jointly with American colleges and universities to elucidate social problems confronting both Israel and the United States. Similar conferences, attended by Americans will be held periodically in Israel under the joint sponsorship of Histadrut and Israeli academic institutions, he states.

Joint research projects and publications by Histadrut and the Institute are also included in the program, which will enlist teams of American and Israeli scholars. Resident fellowships in Israel for American graduate students in the social sciences will be offered by the Institute. A committee of American and Israeli scholars will screen the applicants.

The overall program negotiated by Histadrut’s department for higher education and the American Histadrut Cultural Exchange Institute is directed at a non-sectarian audience. A special program has also been formulated to deepen understanding of Israel among American Jewish intellectuals, and understanding of Jewish life in the Diaspora by Israeli youth. Religious leaders will be prominently involved in this activity. The Institute has established local chapters of academicians and laymen in major American cities, it was reported at the press luncheon.