Special “food-for-Israel” drives now being conducted in the United States are termed “unnecessary and wasteful” in a statement issued here today by the Jewish Agency’s Committee on Control and Authorization of Campaigns. The statement, issued with the approval of the Israel Government, urges increased support of the United Jewish Appeal and the Israel Bond Drive as the best method for permanently alleviating Israel food shortages.
Recent press reports on the food situation in Israel have led some organizations and individuals to plan “food-for-Israel” campaigns on community or national levels, the statement says. “While such plans are welcome expressions of American Jewry’s deep concern with Israel’s welfare, they are not well adapted to Israel’s needs. Food campaigns, no matter hew expertly conducted, can never produce as much food as quickly and economically as centralized food buy by the people who know Israel’s needs best-the Israeli authorities. Moreover, while food collections will feed a few Israelis on a hand-to-mouth basis, they do nothing to solve the country’s central food problem.”
Stressing that a “multiplicity of campaigns” tends to divert public support from the major fund-raising efforts for Israel, the statement says; “The people in Israel are not starving. They have been forced to tighten their belts in an effort to discharge their duty of receiving immigration and of developing the country. The best way to help them is through the United Jewish Appeal and the Bond Drive.”
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
