On the occasion of David Ben-Gurion’s 85th birthday, Sam Rothberg, general chairman of the Israel Bond Organization, announced today the launching of a special worldwide campaign in Oct. and Nov. to honor the revered Israeli leader through the sale of $85 million in Israel Bonds ($1 million for each year of his life). Rothberg made the announcement in Israel at the celebration of Ben-Gurion’s birthday which was attended by Prime Minister Golda Meir, Finance Minister Pinhas Sapir and other top national leaders.
“In addition to the historic role which he played in the creation of the State of Israel,” Rothberg declared, “Mr. Ben-Gurion fathered the Israel Bond program which has become a major instrument in Israel’s economic development.” In a message for the Jews abroad, Israel’s first Prime Minister called for greater response than ever before to the Israel Bond campaign, citing Internal as well as external problems and needs which require large-scale economic aid from world Jewry. in Sept. 1950, Ben-Gurion convened the first Jerusalem Conference of American leaders which endorsed the proposal for an Israel Bond issue.
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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.
