Palestine industry, which in 1942 produced more than sixteen million dollars worth of commodities for military needs, will face grave problems after the war when world competition will be resumed, Eliezer Kaplan, treasurer of the Jewish Agency for Palestine today told a Jewish Labor Party conference called for the sole purpose of discussing Jewish industrial problems in the country.
“We must prepare for that crucial time,” Mr. Kaplan said. He emphasized that eighty percent of the workers in Palestine’s industry are Jews and ninety percent of the capital invested in Palestine industrial enterprises is Jewish. He disclosed that while in the first year of the war Palestine industries filled military orders to the extent of four million dollars, they filled four times as many orders last year and will produce even larger quantities of military material this year.
Addressing the conference, David Ben-Gurion pointed out that more attention must be devoted to industry, since the industrial development of the country would make possible the absorption of large numbers of Jewish immigrants. Industrial workers constitute at present only twenty-five percent of all Jewish workers in Palestine, he said.
The Jewish Industrial Association today protested the decision of the Palestine Government to increase the income taxes. The protest states that Palestine industry is still weak and that its profits so far only cover expenses incurred during the establishment of the enterprises.
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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.
