Israel Bond Organization Outlines Plans for Intensified Fall Campaign

The National Campaign Executive Committee of the Israel Bond Organization, at a meeting in New York, outlined plans for an intensified Fall campaign to help maintain Israel’s economic equilibrium in the face of mounting defense and domestic needs by accelerating Israel’s economic development, which affects all sectors of the country’s economic life. Sam Rothberg, general chairman of the Israel Bond campaign, said that the Israel economy may also be affected as a result of the monetary and trade aspects of President Nixon’s recently announced economic decisions, including the added tax on imports. Rothberg stated that Israel must continue to provide housing and employment for the incoming Soviet Jews. “To do less would be to seal their fate,” he declared. He pointed out that while the Israel government had been cognizant of the plight of the deprived sector and had done as much as it could to alleviate the problem in the years since the Six-Day War, it was now taking action to bring about large-scale improvements. These programs will require vast sums of money, he said. Leo Bernstein, executive vice president of the Israel Bond Organization, reported that cash sales of Israel Bonds for the first seven months of this year amounted to $132 million as against $100 million for the same period last year, an increase of 32 percent. Based on the projections for the last five months of the year, which is usually the most active campaign period, a goal of $300 million is achievable, he said.

The plans outlined by the National Campaign Executive Committee will be implemented on the occasion of the National Leadership Conference for Israel Bonds to be held in Washington, D.C. on September 11 and 12. Israel’s Ambassador Yitzhak Rabin will be the principal speaker. Bernstein pinpointed the areas of vital importance in the Fall campaign, as follows: The High Holiday Israel Bond effort in hundreds of synagogues in the United States and Canada which last year raised $28 million in Bond purchases, is expected to exceed $40 million this year. In tribute to the 85th birthday of David Ben-Gurion, the Israel Bond campaign during October and November will be dedicated as a meaningful greeting to the illustrious founder of the State of Israel. This would be in the form of a cash campaign for $85 million in Bonds for Ben-Gurion’s 85th birthday. Additional corporate dinners for Israel Bonds Bond functions in such “areas of affluence” as country clubs, as well as special sales to trades and unions, federations and community funds, and the enrollment of many more Trustees (purchasers of $10,000 or more in Bonds) are among the highlights of the planning for the immediate future, Mr. Bernstein added.