Procedural details are holding up Israel’s use of two loans for development programs, but those close to the agreements are confident they will be finally signed within the next several weeks, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency learned today. Absence of the Israeli government’s formal approval of its share of the funding is delaying a White House authorization for a final agreement on a series of desalting plants–two in Israel and one in San Diego.
A demonstration plant at Eilat costing $3 million is to be completed by next Nov. A slightly larger demonstration plant in San Diego, with experts of the two countries joining in its construction, is to cost about $2 million. No figure has been set for a much larger plant at Ashdod, to be constructed by 1977.
Similarly, some delay has been occasioned in the signing of the World Bank loan of $30 million to Israel, approved Nov. 30, to assist in a $75 million sewerage project that will include about 310 miles of sewers, 80 pumping stations and 40 treatment plants. This loan is expected to be signed within the next month. The project will serve 75 urban communities and provide joint services in such cities as Haifa and Tel Aviv. Construction of the sewerage system, which will be used by about 2.3 million people, will take place over a five-year period. The loan is for five years at 71/2 percent interest per annum.
Meanwhile, a high-level Israel Chamber of Commerce delegation is visiting a dozen U.S. cities, mainly in the south, to establish branches of the organization to help promote trade within the two countries. Itzhak Moday, president of Revlon (Israel) Ltd., is head of the group.
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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.
