Israel’s Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion explained today, in a letter to New York Mayor Robert F. Wagner, that Israel had decided definitely against participating in the New York World’s Fair, because of a lack of money due to the burdens of defense expendftures, immigrant absorption and education.
The explanation was made in a letter replying to one previously sent to Mr. Ben-Gurion by Mr. Wagner. The Mayor had urged the Israeli Premier to reconsider a previous decision to omit participation in the 1964 Fair. In his response, Mr. Ben-Gurion referred to the current heavy fiscal demands on his Government, and said he found it “regrettable” that Israel could not participate. Mr. Ben-Gurion pointed out that the funds involved would have amounted to $3, 000,000. He stated:
“I am also told that we cannot conceivably reduce the estimate for our pavilion without injuring the level of its presentation of our country and we took the decision rather not to have a pavilion at all than to have an inadequate one. We investigated other areas of financing and these, too, were not desirable or practicable. I must repeat, regretfully–and it is indeed regrettable, for New York occupies a special place for many of us and for myself personally–that we shall have to forego the benefits of participating in the World’s Fair.”
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
