Premier Golda Meir promised today to concentrate on Israel’s urgent domestic problems if she is re-elected next Oct. “Plans are taking shape in my head on domestic matters and I want to get things moving on the inside,” the 75-year-old Premier told members of the teachers union at Kibbutz Maaleh Hahamisha.
Mrs. Meir said the government would discuss within ten days a report by a commission she appointed two years ago to study the problems of underprivileged children. She promised that some of its recommendations would be published before the Oct. elections. The report found among other things that 160,000 children live in poverty conditions, about 94 percent of them from families of Asian or African origin.
Mrs. Meir urged citizens with higher education to “come to terms with reality” when they demand that living standards be raised. “One cannot speak of closing the social gap in Israel and at the same time demand a rise in living standards,” she said.
She warned that Israel could not afford social division because “for us it’s a matter of life and death.” According to the Premier, Israel has enough manpower to deal with its problems but not enough money. She called for more public volunteers to supplement the government’s efforts to solve domestic problems.
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