David Ben-Gurion, Israel’s Prime Minister and leader of the Mapai Party, took a day off today from the cares of government and the heat of a national election campaign to observe his 73rd birthday in the village of Sde Boker, in the Negev, the southern desert.
His contemplation of the area of Israel which is dearest to his heart and where he said today, he would take up residence on his retirement from office, was interrupted by a series of official delegations and well-wishers. Mr. Ben-Gurion received the visiting Prime Minister of the Republic of Chad and told him that if Israel could help his young state in any way, “we shall be only too glad to do it.”
An official delegation of the secretariat of the Mapai Party also journeyed to Sde Boker to greet Mr. and Mrs. Ben-Gurion on the occasion. The Ben-Gurions announced that the birthday celebration would be combined with the second anniversary of the Beersheba Institute of Arid Zone Research. The Premier, who organized the institute, said he would spend a day there and inspect all its activities.
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