The 12th annual Histadrut Economic Conference for Israel opened Sunday at the Fontainebleau Hotel under the auspices of the Israel Histadrut Foundation with a report that the Foundation had passed the $50 million mark in long-term commitments to the health, educational and social welfare programs of Histadrut in Israel. The report was given by Sol Stein, president of the Foundation which he established 18 years ago as an adjunct of the Israel Histadrut campaign.
In a seminar Monday, Dr. Zvi Dinstein, Economic Minister of Israel to the United States and Canada, explained the new economic policy instituted by the government of Premier Menachem Begin as one that aimed “to let economic processes determine their own cause with minimal government interference.”
Dinstein, who also served as Deputy Minister of Finance under previous Labor governments and is a former Knesset member, stated that Israel has a $2.75 billion annual trade deficit of which $1 billion was for civilian expenses, while the major share was due to military expenditures. These deficits, he said, can possibly be reduced by normal developments within three to five years. Israel has open markets for goods and services and must find investments for its industrial infrastructure, he said. Israeli agriculture is highly developed and hundreds of Israeli experts are helping developing countries to increase their food supply.
While the goal of the policy is to foster an economy free of government interference, the results will depend on the degree of private investment and initiative, Dinstein said. He noted that Egyptian President Anwar Sadat might be prompted to seek peace with Israel now before Israel achieves total economic self-sufficiency and becomes stronger in its negotiating stance.
Dr. Judah J. Shapiro, president of the National Committee for Labor Israel, in the keynote address to the 1500 participants at the conference, described the Middle East as “an arena of contention between the superpowers.” He added that in the American view Israel was not “a sentimental bastion of democracy but an aircraft carrier from which the United States may have to conduct its campaign in the area.”
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