Bentov Says Negev Development Will Permit Population of Six Million

Israel Minister of Development Mordechai Bentov said in New York last night that “Israel can hold a population of six million when the Negev is fully developed and settled.”

In a press conference after completing a month’s visit in this country, Mr. Bentov reported an agreement with the directors of the Muscle Shoals chemical and fertilizer plant for supply to Israel of information on the Iatest methods of producing phosphates.

He noted that Israel was one of the few countries with the basic ingredients of fertilizers and a wide variety of chemicals side by side and pointed out there was no similar supply between the Dead Sea and the West Coast of the United States. In this vast area, he said, there were hundreds of millions of small farmers who “must use more and more fertilizers–and Israel has an unlimited supply.”

He said that, in 1959, Israel will produce 140, 000 tons of potash, 250, 000 tons of phosphates, and 2, 000 tons of bromine. The King Solomon Copper Mines at Timna, after a breaking-in period, will, he said. begin producing shortly seven thousand tons of copper a year, most of it for export.

Last year, the Minister said, products of the plants under his Ministry exported $7, 000, 000 of various chemicals and materials. This year, this export will reach $10, 000, 000, and within 10 years it is expected to reach $100, 000, 000 a year.

Mr. Bentov studied with the Bureau of Saline Water, in the Department of the Interior in Washington, progress made in desalination of sea water. He revealed negotiations with General Electric and Westinghouse for installation of a generating station in Elath, which would also sweeten water there at a cost of 60 cents to 80 cents per 1, 000 gallons. This price, he said, was good for home and industrial use but not for agriculture, which must have cheaper water.