More than 30 Jewish communities from throughout the U.S. and Canada were represented at the opening Saturday of the 14th annual economic conference here of the Histodrut Foundation.
The conference, called to draw attention to the increased financial needs of the social and welfare program of Histadrut in Israel, featured an opening address by Ambassador Zvi Brosh, minister for information at the Israeli Embassy in Washington. Brosh spoke of an austerity program of belt tightening that Israelis will have to endure to pay the price of peace with Egypt. He pointed to the high cost of relocating military installations from the Sinai to the Negev under the Israeli-Egyptian peace agreement and to Israel’s increased energy bill due to the loss of the Sinai oil fields.
Brosh noted that Israel will spend roughly 10 percent of its gross national product on defense this year because Syria, Iraq and Jordan still remain a threat to Israel’s security.
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