Israel Government Increases Its Budget by 20,000,000 Pounds

The Israel Parliament gave approval today to the first reading of the government’s 1,183,00,000 pound regular and development budget for the fiscal year beginning April. The document was then sent back to committee for further discussion before being presented to the House for its second and third readings.

In the committee, Finance Minister Levi Eshkol announced that the budget would have to be boosted another 20,000,000 pounds because the government is assuming a larger share of immigration and absorption expenses. He said that the additional funds would come from higher customs and travel taxes, adding that the higher budget was essential to avert a drastic cut in settlement programs hitherto handled by the Jewish Agency.

The Government’s allocation for the Jewish Agency’s settlement budget during 1958-1959 will be double that of the previous year, he reported, because the Agency was unable to maintain the share of colonization activity it had originally assumed.

A proposal’ for a fee for issuance of an exit visit, shelved by the Israel Treasury several months ago when Israelis assailed it as an “exit tax” and an infringement of the right to freedom of movement; is again scheduled to be introduced in Knesset by the hard-pressed Treasury. When the Treasury first tried to introduce the “tax”in the form of an $85 visa charge, the Ministry of the Interior, which is in charge of immigration matters, declined to cooperate.

It was also disclosed that there will be further difficulties for Israelis to leave the country. The Ministry of Finance has decided to raise substantially the present 33 percent tax on ship and airline tickets. The exact size of the increase was not announced.