Israel Appropriated $140,000,000 Subscribed to Bonds in U.S.

A total of $140,000,000 subscribed to Israel bonds has been appropriated by the Israel Government during the past 16 months for the industrial and agricultural development of the Jewish State, Julian B. Venezky, chairman of the executive committee of the bond campaign, declared in a report here today to the second National Economic Conference for Israel, sponsored by the bond drive organization. More than 1,100 delegates from 42 states are attending the parley.

Mr. Venezky revealed that some 400,000 persons, including a considerable number of non-Jews have subscribed to Israel bonds. He said that the $140,000,000 had been appropriated on the following basis:

The sum of $56,070,000 had been set aside for the development of electric power and for the expansion of such basic industries as the Dead Sea Potash Works, the Israel Mining Corporation and for fertilizers and chemicals.

For agricultural projects, including the establishment of an agricultural bank, regional and local irrigation and the development of the southern Negev the sum of $37,324,000 was appropriated. Some $17,780,000 was allocated for various transportation projects, including the expansion of the port of Haifa, the development of Kishon harbor, the construction of a new rail line between Tel Aviv and Hadera, and the purchase of rolling stock and automotive equipment.

Housing projects planned for various parts of the country will require $12,600,000, Mr. Venezky pointed out, and the government has set aside $4,900,000 for the development of hotels and other tourist facilities, an important source of foreign currency. The Finance Ministry has established a reserve fund of $11,326,000 from Israel bonds as additional resources that may be required for the listed projects.

In a message to Henry Morgenthau, Jr., chairman of the bond drive organization, Israel Finance Minister Levi Eshkol declared that the people of Israel had been deeply encouraged by the progress of the bond campaign. Israel is facing serious economic difficulties, Mr. Eshkol said, as a result of an investment lag of a billion dollars in the absorption of the 750,000 immigrants who entered Israel during the past four years. Declaring that only 50 percent of the two billion dollars needed was available for the integration of the newcomers, the Israel Finance Minister pointed to the bond drive as the means of bridging the gap in the country’s economic needs.