Katzir Appalled by Living Conditions of Some Jewish Families in Jerusalem

President Ephraim Katzir spent his fifth day in office touring Jerusalem and said he was appalled by the living conditions of some Jewish families. The 57-year-old biophysicist was renewing his acquaintance with the city where he lived 25 years ago before joining the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovoth, “I lived in Jerusalem. I studied here. I raised my family here and I taught the youth, including the poor youth. Despite the long period that has passed since then, I have not seen any progress with some at the families we visited today,” the President said.

“I think it is about time that the people of Israel do something about the standard of living of some Jews, he added. “The social gap is especially alarming in Jerusalem, I think it is discouraging and does not please any Jerusalem visitors,” he said.

Katzir, who was awarded honorary citizenship of Jerusalem by Mayor Teddy Kollek, toured the city in a public bus this morning, accompanied by the Mayor and members of the City Council and with only two motorcycle policemen as an escort, Wearing a blue suit and an open collar white shirt, the President stopped at an elementary school, an Arab high school in East Jerusalem and two community centers, one for delinquent youth. He also visited the one-and-a-half room apartment of Abed and Hanna Katan in the Katamon quarter, a slum district inhabited by many of Jerusalem’s poorer families.

MUST CLOSE SOCIAL GAP

He said he was shocked by the Katan family’s living conditions-feeding 10 persons on a salary of about $200 a month. Later he told a luncheon given for him by the Jerusalem Municipality that Israel must make every effort to close the social gap.

Katzir made his first major public appearance in Tel Aviv last night where he officially opened Israel’s 25th Anniversary Exhibition at the Fair Grounds. Speaking to an audience of 20,000 he declared that the time has arrived to tighten the ties between Israeli researchers and scientific institutions and Israeli industrialists.” He said that “only such close ties will ensure an independent modern industry.”

The Fair Grounds, covering some 23,000 square meters, are devoted to Israel-made products with those of the military and aviation industries predominating. The exhibition will be open until June 23. More than 1 million visitors are expected.

Katzir’s first public appearance after his inauguration last Thursday was at a luncheon held Friday by the Board of Governors of the Jewish Agency. He called for close collaboration between diaspora Jewry and Israel on the scientific, moral and cultural levels no less than on the material level. He was greeted by Max Fisher, chairman of the Board of Governors, and Louis Pincus, chairman of the Jewish Agency Executive.

Katzir said that Israel’s great challenge in the years ahead would be to integrate the fast growing number of academically trained Israelis and immigrants into a modern technological society. He stressed, however, that Israeli society must be based on Jewish moral and cultural values and on social Justice.