The first project for absorbing immigrants in Israel constructed with funds from two American grants to Israel totalling $72 million was dedicated Monday at Rehovot in the presence of American officials headed by Ambassador Frank L. Kellog, special assistant to the Secretary of State for Refugees and Migration Affairs, and U.S. Ambassador Kenneth Keating. Jewish Agency acting chairman Leon Dulzin, United Israel Appeal chairman Melvin Dubinsky and Rehovot Mayor Shmuel Rechtman were also present.
The project, a $2.5 million absorption center, will provide initial accommodation for immigrants until they can be permanently absorbed. Addressing the gathering, Kellog said that the U.S. will provide Israel with grants for absorbing immigrants by aiding housing construction, improving social absorption conditions and economic integration, and will construct hospitals for immigrants. He revealed that his office is preparing plans to help absorb musicians and artists, especially from the Soviet Union.
Keating said that the U.S. has no greater friend than Israel and that Israel has not better friend than the U.S. The new center is “a link in the chain that brings people to a country so special, so dear to them,” he said.
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