The Board of Governors of the Jewish Agency, concluding its two-day meeting here Wednesday, approved a Jewish Agency budget of $381 million for fiscal 1986/87.
Leon Dulzin, chairman of the Jewish Agency Executive, told a press conference that two highlights of the new budget are a $50 million allocation for rural settlements in Israel which face financial difficulties and a $20 million allocation for housing for new immigrants.
He said the $50 million will be disbursed over a period of two years and the $20 million will be used to purchase 4,500 housing units for newly arrived immigrants.
Dulzin said the budget also includes $1.8 million for four new settlements to be established in Galilee and in the Arava region of the Negev. Jerold Hoffberger, Board of Governors chairman, who took part in the press conference, stressed that the Jewish Agency does not allocate money for settlements or projects in the administered territories. “We operate strictly within Israel’s 1967 borders,” he said.
Both Hoffberger and Dulzin noted that the Board of Governors meeting, the first ever held in the U.S. was successful. They expressed satisfaction that the Jewish Agency has been able to maintain a balanced budget for the last four years.
OTHER MAJOR BUDGET ITEMS
Other major budget items include an allocation of $52,450,000 for immigration and absorption. This is much less than the $88 million for that purpose in the previous budget. The difference is attributed to the $40 million the Jewish Agency spent last year to absorb some 10,000 Jewish immigrants from Ethiopia.
The new budget, however, sets aside a reserve of $15 million for immigration and absorption needs in the event of an unexpected influx of olim into Israel. The new budget also includes $52 million for Youth Aliyah, $11,750,000 for Jewish education worldwide, $44 million for higher education and $16 million for vocational training. The budget is subject to final approval by the Jewish Agency Assembly to be held in Jerusalem June 22-26.
Dulzin noted that the Jewish Agency spends only three percent of its total budget on central administration. It will amount to $12 million this year. In addition to the regular budget, the Board of Governors approved $48 million for Project Renewal, the same as last year, for the rehabilitation of depressed neighborhoods in Israel.
The only budget item to raise controversy was the allocation of $250,000, a marginal sum in the context of the total budget, to build a youth hostel in Jerusalem by the Reform movement. Orthodox Board members objected strenuously and a heated debate ensued. But the objections were overruled and the allocation was approved.
Following the Board of Governors meeting, which ended Wednesday night, 22 Board members accompanied by senior Jewish Agency staff will begin Jewish Agency Week, a series of visits to 46 Jewish communities in the U.S. and Canada. The visitors will participate in various communal activities including local Federation board meetings, Jewish Agency committee meetings and campaign cabinet and leadership meetings.
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