The Jewish Agency for Palestine expended $2,500,000 for its settlement activities in the fiscal year ending Oct. 1, 1936, it was disclosed today. A total of 30,000 Jews immigrated to Palestine in 1936, bringing the Jewish population to an estimated 410,000, according to a report issued by the Palestine Foundation Fund.
The report states the Jewish Agency spent $1,148,920 for agricultural colonization, $290,000 for immigration and immigrant-training, $255,000 for housing and public works, $211,000 for maintenance of national institutions and provision of security during the recent disturbances, $175,000 additional by the Foundation Fund for settlement of German Jews, $140,000 for educational and cultural activities and $105,000 for trade and industry.
The largest part of the Jewish Agency’s budget is provided by the Palestine Foundation Fund (Keren Hayesod), which received its greatest income from the United States, with South Africa, Great Britain and Palestine following in order.
In addition to funds directly collected by the Jewish Agency through subsidiaries in various countries, it used $425,000 received from the Council for German Jewry to settle 990 German Jewish immigrants in 38 colonies, most of them previously established by the Keren Hayesod.
The Keren Hayesod also expended $108,000 in the Palestine Drainage and Amelioration Co., engaged in draining 15,000 acres of marsh land near Lake Huleh, thereby bringing its investment in that enterprise to $166,500. Investments in various companies doing work such as housing and irrigation were cited.
Established individual-holdings colonies were consolidated and new colonization initiated during the year. Sums were spent to consolidate cooperate settlements, for building, irrigation, maintenance of girls’ agricultural training farms, aid to middle-class colonization and maintenance of agricultural service.
This service included instructors, surveys, water boiling, geological research, research in cattle disease and experimental fields. More than $100,000 was spent on the Agricultural Research Experimentation Station at Rehoboth.
In addition to financing immigration, colonization and education, the fund seeks to increase “the economic absorptive capacity of the land.” It extended loans for workers’ dwellings and road-building and improvement. The total number of schools is now 343 with 39,701 teachers and 1,217 pupils.
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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.
