Addressing the annual meeting of the shareholders of the Palestine Economic Corporation at Temple Emanu-El last night, Bernard Flexner, chairman of the board, pointed out that in 1926 the company had $844,000 in assets, while today it has over $3,300,000.
“The Corporation,” he stated, “has adhered unswervingly to its policy of operating on strictly business lines and through its credits to farmers and workers and its investments in basic industries has helped to increase the absorptive capacity of Palestine. Today there are over 260,000 Jews in Palestine and from all indications Jewish immigration this year will exceed the 40,000 who entered Palestine in 1933.
500 COOPERATIVES TODAY
“In 1926 there were ninety cooperatives in Palestine and the Central Bank of Cooperative Institutions, one of the Corporation’s subsidiaries, granted credits then to twenty-five cooperatives. Today there are over 500 cooperatives and the bank grants loans to ninety cooperatives with a membership of 15,000.
“Through the Loan Bank, another subsidiary which caters to the lowest economic group, over $5,500,000 in loans have been granted since 1924, and the Loan Bank has been able to build up the credit worthiness of over 20,000 borrowers to the point where they are able to obtain loans from other institutions.
“The Palestine Mortgage and Credit Bank has financed over 1,100 houses for urban and rural workers and for the middle class. The Corporation is one of the principal investors in Palestine Potash, Ltd., which is extracting potash and bromine from the Dead Sea, and in Palestine Hotels Ltd., which owns the King David Hotel in Jerusalem.”
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.
