The thousands of Jewish immigrants now arriving monthly in Israel represent only 50 percent of those who would be arriving if funds were available for their transportation and resettlement, Itzhak Raphael, head of the Jewish Agency immigration department, reported here. Mr. Raphael arrived in London en route to North Africa to study health and rehabilitation problems of prospective immigrants to Israel.
He described the plan for immigration of 600,000 Jews over the next three years as a minimum program coping only with the most urgent needs. Jewish migration from Poland and Iraq, he pointed out, is subject to permission good only for one year. In North Africa, he added, there are 150,000 ready to emigrate. Transportation costs from emigration points to Haifa, he said, would cost $16,000,000 a year. The Jewish Agency, he added, would have to bear the entire cost of maintenance and absorption of 85 percent of the immigrants.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.