National Parley Decides to Launch New $300, 000, 000 Israel Bond Issue

A program for the launching of a new $300, 000, 000 issue of State of Israel Bonds in the next 60 days was adopted today to provide Israel with the economic means of keeping its gates open to more than 100, 000 new immigrants in 1959 and sustain its economic development.

This action was taken at the closing session of a three-day National Economic Planning Conference of the Israel Bond Organization at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, which was attended by more than 500 Jewish leaders from the United States and Canada. In response to urgent pleas from Israel addressed to the Conference by Finance Minister Levi Eshkol and Ambassador Abba Eban, the delegates voted to sell $75,000,000 in 1959 to assure a successful beginning of the new bond issue.

The new bonds, which will be known as the Second Development Issue, will be officially launched at a National Inaugural Conference which will be held in Miami during the week-end of Friday, March 6, according to an announcement made by Dr. Joseph J. Schwartz, vice president, who presided at the closing session. The first two issues of Israel bonds, the Independence and First Development Bonds, produced a record total of more than $366, 000, 000 for the economic development of Israel during the period from May 1, 1951 to December 31, 1958, he said.

Dr. Schwartz emphasized that the Israel bond campaign for 1959 must be carried on with the greatest vigor in the first three months of the year. "We must wage an intensified drive in the first three months of 1959 to provide the foundation for the enlarged income which is so crucial to the success of the entire year and to the realization of the broader program of economic absorption which Israel must embark upon for hundreds of thousands of new immigrants."

Dr. Schwartz outlined the terms of the new bond issue as agreed upon with the Government of Israel. He said that two types of bonds would be offered, consisting of 15-year dollar coupon bonds paying four percent interest annually and ten-year dollar savings bonds which will mature at 150 percent of their face value. Coupon bonds will start at $500 and savings bonds at $100.

ISRAEL MUST RECEIVE 100, 000 IMMIGRANTS IN 1959, ESHKOL SAYS

Addressing the conference last night, Levi Eshkol, Israel’s Minister of Finance, said that Israel must be prepared to receive an additional 100, 000 immigrants this year, mostly from Eastern European countries. He explained that Israel would need some $2, 000 to $2, 500 a person to provide for the permanent absorption of these new comers into her economy.

Mr. Eshkol estimated that immigration will proceed at the rate of more than 8, 000 a month during 1959 and possibly at the same rate in 1960. He predicted that, as a result of immigration and natural increase, the population of Israel, now at the 2, 000, 000 mark, will reach 3, 000, 000 in the next ten years.

Warning that the overwhelming burden of settling 100, 000 immigrants in 1959 may bring on a grave economic crisis, the Israel Finance Minister called for a new mobilization of American support through Israel bonds. He said that, of a total of $250, 000, 000 needed for the absorption of 100, 000 immigrants, some $90, 000, 000 would have to be spent on housing alone.

In another address at yesterday evening’s session, Israel Ambassador Abba Eban called upon the Western Powers to avoid giving any impression that they "condone Nasser’s claims to hegemony over the Middle East. " These claims, Mr. Eban said, are the "central cause of Middle Eastern tension. " Ambassador Eban stressed that "the friendship of the major Western Powers towards Israel is not merely a function of their disillusionment with Arab states. " In a reference to the "cold war" between East and West, he added:

"It is wrong to believe that any improvement in relations between the Western Powers and some of your adversaries would of necessity cause the Western Powers to abandon their respect for Israel’s sovereignty and vital interests. Many powers are now involved in complex problems of judgment in connection with developments in Baghdad and Cairo. In no single case has any friendly country drawn the conclusions that these should arrest or annull the processes by which they contribute to Israel’s strength and stability."

The sum of $46,540, 650 was raised in 1958 through the sale of Israel bonds, it was reported at the conference. The amount sold last year brought to a total of $366, 450,000 the financial resources derived from Israel bonds since May, 1951 for Israel’s economic development.

Speakers at the conference included Abraham Feinberg, president of the bond organization; Ira Guilden, national campaign chairman; Mrs. Joseph Cherner, chairman of the women’s division of the bond organization, and Mrs. Joan Comay, Israeli author and journalist.