“Advances are being made in all phases of Israel’s economy despite Arab efforts to strangle our economic life” and to convert the current “cold war into a shooting war through night raids, border attacks, robbery and infiltration,” Levi Eskhol, Israel’s Finance Minister, said tonight, at a dinner in his honor at the Waldorf Astoria sponsored by the New York Committee for State of Israel Bonds.
“The hostility of the Arabs has made our path harder, “he said. “When they brandish their swords, we must be prepared to defend ourselves. In self-defense, we become involved in military expenditures which are a drain on our Treasury, so that we do not have sufficient funds left for our vital program of economic development.
“It is this situation which heightens the importance of the State of Israel Bonds, not only for maintaining our economic progress, but for our very survival, which cannot be possible without a solid and smoothly functioning economy.”
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