Jewish Agency Has $21,000,000 Deficit, Locker Reports; Asks American Jewry’s Aid

The Jewish Agency has a deficit of $21,000,000 as a result of its activities in behalf of immigration to Israel and the absorption of the immigrants after they arrive, Berl Locker, chairman of the Agency in Jerusalem, revealed today in an interview here.

He said that the Agency’s expenditures for the past eleven months amounted to $78,000,000 while its income only came to $57,000,000. He disclosed that arrangements had been made to cover the deficit by means of short and long-term loans by repayment of certain funds due the Agency from the Israel Government. Mr. Locker added that the accomplishments of the Agency in the immigration and absorption fields can only continue “if the Jews of the United States, who provide two-thirds of the Agency’s income, appreciate how absolutely essential the maintenance of this pace is for the future of Israel.”

Mr. Locker, who is leaving for the United States shortly to attempt to speed up the raising of funds for Israel, pointed out the achievements of the Agency since the inception of the Israel Government. He reported that 300,000 Jews arrived in Israel in the 16 months since it was established, comparing this figure with the 450,000 Jews who arrived in the 28 years that Britain served as the Mandatory Power in Palestine. In the establishment of agricultural settlements the record of the Jewish state is as good, he said, stressing that 130 settlements have been founded since May 15, 1948, as compared to 330 during the Mandatory’s regime.

Meanwhile, from Tel Aviv it was reported that some 15,000 Jews reached Israel from Morocco, Algiers and Tunisia in the period from the beginning of the year to the end of July, 1949. Emigration from Tripolitania only began in April. It is expected that by the end of the year 35,000 North African Jews will have reached Israel.