Israel’s integration of the new mass immigration requires “a new orientation, involving a major change in its economy,” Joseph Saphir, the Jewish State’s former Minister of Communications, declared here today.
Mr. Saphir made his statement at a press conference at national headquarters of the Zionist Organization of America. The ex-Cabinet minister is one of the top leaders of the General Zionist Party in Israel.
Israel’s success in its second decade, said Mr. Saphir, “revolves around its ability to overhaul its economy so as to make it receptive to business investments thus expanding its economic base and creating additional opportunities for employment.” He explained that “while during the first decade of its independence the bulk of public funds were invested in the promotion of agriculture rather than industry, in the second decade the process will have to be reversed if we are to concentrate on the creation of additional means of employment.”
He further emphasized that, while “absorption of large numbers of immigrants requires considerable financial assistance from abroad, their integration would be speedy and less costly by putting the Israel economy on a business footing. ” Mr. Saphir also maintained that ‘as the Israel market will always be small, the entire Israel economy must be orientated for its exports; whether in agriculture or in industry.”
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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.
