Histadrut National Council Sets $10,000,000 Goal for 1951 Campaign for Israel Labor

A resolution setting a goal of $10,000,000 for the 1950-51 Israel Histadrut Campaign was adopted here today by the Histadrut National Council during an all-day meeting. The goal and plans suggested for meeting it will be submitted for approval to the 27th pational convention of the National Committee for Labor Israel which will be held here at the end of November.

The 150 delegates from cities throughout the United States and Canada also sent a message of greeting to Israel President Weizmann and Premier David Ben Gurion pledging “unstinting support” in the task of the “ingathering of the exiles and the building of the new state on the foundations of democracy, cooperation and social justice.” A message from Vice-President Alben W. Barkley praised the accomplishments of Israel’s labor federation. Israel Merom, director of the Histadrut vocational training department, who is here on a visit, told the meeting that Israel has enough manpower but lacks skilled laborers.

Last night, Dr. Joseph Burstein, director of the Histadrut education department, told the members of the council that Israel will be able to add next year another 100,000 dunams (25,000 acres) of land for agricultural and industrial development with the completion of the Negev irrigation project. Dr. Burstein estimated that in three or four years another 750,000 dunams would be available in the Negev for the settlement of 80,000 families. He reported that 40 percent of the adult population of Israel is now enrolled in the 311,000-member Histadrut and aserted that prophecies of mass unemployment in Israel had not materialized.

Isaac Hamlin, general secretary of the National Committee for Labor Israel, announced the acquisition of a building in this city to house the national and Latin American headquarters of the Israel Histandrut Campaign. The building will be known as “Histadrut House.”