Raising their right hands, the 250 members of the Prime Minister’s Israel Bonds Conference pledged before President Ephraim Katzir here that “every day of the year we will perform some specific act to ensure the continuity of Jewish life in our country and throughout the world….” With that vow, the Bond leaders marked the climax of their mission to Israel during which they studied the country’s economic and industrial problems in depth:
The mission began a week ago in Brussels with briefings from European Economic Community (EEC) and Israeli officials there on the prospects of export expansion following the new Israel EEC tariff agreement. During their visit here, the mission members heard lectures from top government and university economists and spent two days touring Galilee, especially the Tefen area where the government and Jewish Agency plan an “industrial park” to provide employment opportunities to the northern settlements.
In their pledge of solidarity last weekend, the Bonds leaders undertook “the fullest measure of our energies to promote Israel’s economic independence by mobilizing our synagogues, our communal organizations, women, youth, and every other section of the Jewish population for maximum participation in the Israel Bond program.”
CREATIVE AND POSITIVE FORCE
Katzir, who was introduced by Stephen Shalom chairman of the Greater New York Bond campaign referred to the Bonds campaign as “a most creative and positive force in the building and growth of the land of Israel during the past 25 years.”
Samuel Rothberg, general chairman of the Israel Bond Organization, who presided, announced the enrollment of members of the “Prime Minister’s Club for 1976.” The Club consists of persons who have each signed up for purchases of $25,000-$50,000 worth of Bonds for the year. Michael Arnon, president and chief executive officer of the Bond organization, said that last year the group had raised over $27 million in cash for the development of Israel’s economy, a record second only to the Yom Kippur War year.
Arnon stressed that while most purchasers had been Jews, the campaign had made “an exceptional showing” among non-Jewish institutions such as banks, pension funds, labor unions, communal institutions and endowment funds. He affirmed the importance of these purchases not only as a vote of confidence in Israel’s economic viability, but also as a demonstration on the part of the business world and important segments of the non-Jewish community of strong sympathy for Israel.
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