The United Jewish Appeal in the United States and the United Israel Appeal in more than 60 other countries raised together some $2 billion over the past five years–more than double the sum raised during the preceding five years. Jewish Agency Treasurer Leon Dulzin made this point in his address to the Jewish Agency Assembly today to explain why he looked to the future “quite optimistically.” His hope, he said, was that the coming five years could bring another doubling in the funds for Israel raised by these two principal fund-raising agencies.
Dulzin urged the delegates to “take back to your communities this message of vision and reality–because the reality of tomorrow depends on our vision today.” He said the Assembly would be presented with long-term plans in certain areas–settlement, youth aliya, urban community work–and asked to approve them.
“You may ask,” said Dulzin, “in the light of our present situation–our present financial difficulties–how do we dare look with optimism at the three to five years to come?…The answer is right here in this Assembly. You have given us the right to dare….”
Dulzin pointed out that the doubling of income over the past five years occurred during the period which constitutes the first five years in the life of the reconstituted Jewish Agency. “You have given us the right,” he said, “because of what you have accomplished in these past five years, since the reconstitution”
PRESENTS $502 MILLION BUDGET
Dulzin submitted to the Assembly an annual budget of $502 million for the present year. It has already been approved by the board of governors and is undergoing final examination by the Assembly finance and budget committee before going to the Assembly plenary for final approval Thursday.
The sum is less than last year’s budget proposal and Dulzin said it was the absolute minimum conceivable. After predicted UJA, UIA and loaned income, he would still be $65 million short, he said, and appealed to the assembled Jewish leadership to redouble their fund-raising efforts to make up the balance.
The largest item–$88.4 million–is for aliya and absorption. Dulzin said it was based on an estimate of 35,000 olim–substantially more than actually arrived in Israel last year (about 20,000 during last year). But he said this was not over-optimistic. “Our experience shows that we have to be ready at any moment to receive sudden large numbers of immigrants.”
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