Histadrut Outlines $60 M for Programs

Yehoshua Levy, treasurer of Histadrut, the Israel labor federation, told the board of directors of the National Committee for Labor Israel yesterday that a new four-year expansion program would be undertaken in the field of vocational training, health services and cultural work among Israel’s new immigrants and youth. The combined program will exceed $60 million in new construction and service costs.

Levy stated that four new hospitals would be built at a cost of $25 million. The first of the new structures will be in Haifa, for which $5 million has been committed by the Lady Davis Foundation of Canada, A new medical center was dedicated in Jerusalem in Aug. by the American entertainer, Alan King, who, with his friends, raised $250,000 for the project. Another major clinic is planned for the seaside town of Netanya at a cost of $3 million.

Much of the increased demand for medical facilities stems from the influx of Jewish immigrants from the Soviet Union, Levy stressed. Also, tens of thousands of maturing youths enter the ranks of labor as full members of Histadrut and are entitled to a considerable range of services. The vocational training network of Histadrut was enlarged this year with the opening of the Lady Davis School in Tel Aviv, which has a capacity of 2000 students.

An endowment of $1,3 million is sought for the Histadrut Scholarship Fund and $1.5 million for the Afro-Asian Institute in Tel Aviv. Levy also reported that during the next three years, Histadrut plans to spend close to $25 million for new accommodations for the elderly in its Mishan system of retirement centers, and for its chain of youth villages. Five residential communities for the aged will receive an additional 2500 beds, while four youth villages will be increased by 500 beds. An additional $2.5 million will be spent on enlarging the educational youth centers at Onim and Urim, which offer courses for problem youth.