Israel Will Build Airfield in Jerusalem Area; Plans Building New Deep-water Harbor

The Israel Government expects to build an airfield for Jerusalem and is awaiting a report from Swiss experts regarding the exact, recommended location of the airfield, it was announced here today by Dr. Dov Joseph, Minister of Communications.

Speaking at a press conference, the Minister revealed that the government has appointed a committee of experts to fix the place for the building of a deepwater harbor in the southern part of the country which will also serve for shipments of potash produced in Israel.

Dr. Joseph said that air companies of 12 states are now using the Israel airport at Lydda and that the port authorities there handled, in 1950, about 120,000 passengers. The government is discussing the conversion of the Haifa airport into an international airfield, he declared.

The Minister said that Israel’s post office system handled this year about 65,000,000 pieces of mail for its 1,250,000 population, in addition to approximately one million cablegrams and about one million domestic telegrams. There are now about 29,000 telephones in Israel, but their number will be considerably increased during the coming year, he stated.

Citing improvements in Israel’s rail service, the Minister said within the next two years a direct Haifa-Tel Aviv, one-hour rail service should be available. Rail transportation to Beersheba and Tiberias are blueprinted for a later stage, he revealed. As for shipping, Dr. Joseph said that Israel is negotiating with a British firm for the purchase of a luxury passenger vessel. The Jewish state is also making efforts to increase the number of vessels at the disposal of its merchant fleet and urgently requires five freighters, two passenger ships and two tenders.