Plans for the establishment of agricultural settlements in the occupied Sinai peninsula based on intensive cultivation techniques were submitted to Prime Minister Levi Eshkol yesterday by the Jewish Agency. Dr. Raanan Weitz, head of the Jewish Agency’s Agricultural colonization department did not specify where in the Sinai the new settlements would be established. He said in a radio interview that they would provide the settlers with a higher per capita income than farmers earn in most parts of Israel.
According to Dr. Weitz, the land is especially suitable for winter crops and by a “very conservative estimate” would yield a gross income of at least $57,000 per annum even though desalted sea water would be required for irrigation. Dr. Weitz said the new settlements would also serve as a tourist attraction.
The Jewish National Fund reported that it had completed construction of a nine-mile road to the summit of Mt. Hermon, near the Lebanese border in the area occupied by Israel in the Six-Day war. An Israeli garrison is stationed on Mr. Hermon. The road will serve these units and Israeli sportsmen skiing on the slopes of Mt. Hermon.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
