The first Canadian Planning Conference for Israel, held at the King Edward Hotel here, adopted a resolution calling on Canadian Jewry to strengthen the security of the State of Israel by mobilizing large-scale investment capital through the sale of Israel bonds. More than 300 key Jewish leaders from many communities across Canada attended the two-day sessions.
Israel Ambassador Michael S. Comay, addressing the opening session of the conference, declared that the “current policies in the Middle East of Britain and the United States are undermining Israel’s security. ” Stating that Israel shall continue to call for an “agonizing reappraisal” of present policies, Mr. Comay said: “We shall object to our neighbors being strengthened while they claim they are at war with us, and they employ against us the illicit weapons of boycott and blockade. We shall insist on the balance being preserved.
“With the job of building up the country and absorbing mass immigration only half-done, with the state still heavily dependent on outside aid, we are vulnerable not only in the economic sense, but also in the political and military sense,” the Israel Ambassador emphasized.
Samuel Bronfman, national co-chairman of the Israel Bond Organization, reported that $7,000, 000 in Israel bonds were purchased and that this figure would be equalled or surpassed this year. “We Canadians should not forget that our country could not have achieved its full stature of economic development without the assistance of investment capital from Britain and the United States,” Mr. Bronfman declared. “It is the same in the case of Israel, ” he stated, “which is seeking to carry through a proportionately staggering program of industrial and agricultural expansion.”
Edward E. Gelber, national co-chairman of the Israel Bond Organization in Canada, said that the State of Israel, since its inception, has faced a series of critical problems. “These problems, however, have not deterred the people of Israel on their onward march toward full independence – which means economic independence, ” he declared. “Many of the problems of these early years still exist. But the solution of these problems is being worked out in the greatest job of reconstruction in modern times.”
Henry Montor, chief executive officer of the Israel Bond Organization, emphasized that “only solid economic foundations can assure Israel the strength to defend herself against the dangers of attack. ” He observed that “the success of the Israel bond campaign is one of the most vital factors in the preservation of the new democracy of Israel.”
David Horowitz. Israel’s financial expert, who was recently named Governor of the newly-established Bank of Israel, outlined the economic objectives of his country.
Leon H. Keyserling, noted economist and former chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers in the Truman administration, said that Israel is now in the second lap of its race toward economic independence. He pointed out that the country is already making headway in four great tasks; Inflation is being defeated; production has steadily moved forward; the standard of living, although it is still harsh because of Israel’s voluntary self-denial in order to expand investment as a long-run solution, has improved considerably. Most important and dramatic of all in many ways, the unfavorable trade balance is being greatly reduced.
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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.
