Finance Minister Levi Eshkol was authorized by the Israeli Cabinet yesterday to negotiate with the Jewish Agency the possibility of freezing or waiving debts owed the Government by the Agency, in connection with the development of agricultural settlements.
Mr. Eshkol reported to the Cabinet, at its weekly meeting yesterday, that the Government-Agency Coordinating Board decided, at the request of the current World Zionist Congress, to ask the Israel Government to take over the Zionist movement’s agricultural settlement tasks. Since the Zionist movement’s agricultural settlement work has been done “on behalf of Israel, ” Mr. Eshkol said, the freezing of waiving of the debts would amount “only to a book-keeping adjustment.”
One difficulty seen in connection with the proposed freezing or waiving of the debts was seen by the Cabinet as far as the 1961-1962 Government budget was concerned. That budget-envisages repayment of some of the Government loans by the Agency. The Cabinet, therefore, authorized Mr. Eshkol to negotiate this specific point with the Agency.
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