Jewish Agency Representative Reports on Plans to Aid Demobilized Soldiers in Palestine

A special department has been set up by the Jewish Agency for Palestine to deal with the problem of rehabilitating and resettling demobilized Jewish soldiers in the postwar period, it was reported here today by Dr. Bernard Joseph, representative of the Jewish Agency for Palestine, who is now visiting this country.

In an interview with the press, Dr. Joseph said that the newly formed department of the Jewish Agency is drawing up comprehensive plans for the future of demobilized soldiers in agriculture, industry and commerce. In the agricultural sphere, five soldiers’ settlements are now being prepared for colonization, he reported. These settlements, however, would provide for only about five or six hundred people, he pointed out. The fact that there are more than 30,000 Jewish volunteers serving in the British armed forces indicates the size of the task that will be presented when full demobilization takes place in the postwar period.

In the fields of industry and commerce, the Jewish Agency is providing loans to soldiers to set them up in manufacturing, workshops, or other enterprises in which they have developed special skills in wartime. The Agency also intends to assist demobilized soldiers in forming co-operatives of various kinds. Among the enterprises envisaged is a transport co-operative for drivers who were formerly members of the Royal Army Service Corps.

Soldiers who have been discharged for medical reasons are assisted by a joint body established by the Jewish Agency and the Jewish National Council. Cases are handled on a social service basis. Other aspects of the Jewish. Agency program to aid servicemen include Jewish soldiers’ welfare, aid to war invalids and assistance to soldiers’ families.