Jewish Agency Chairman Pinhas Sapir declared this weekend that a marked improvement had taken place in the field of absorption facilities in Israel and that all government ministries and Jewish Agency departments were making strenuous efforts to further improve the situation. Sapir’s statement, issued by his Jerusalem office upon his instructions from South America (where he is visiting) came in reaction to several recent newspaper articles abroad on difficulties experienced by newcomers here.
Sapir stressed specifically the progress being achieved in housing and employment–the two main hurdles. Several thousand apartments were currently available for olim and another 27,000 were being built. A further 7500 apartments would soon be available for immigrants to rent, and Hamidar (the government housing company) and the Histadrut’s housing companies were building rental accommodation, Sapir said.
“Social absorption” has also been improved, with women’s voluntary groups and the “young guards” of the political movements launching efforts to directly help the individual oleh in his absorption problems, Sapir noted, adding, bureaucracy was being overcome by concentrating all the various officials handling olim in each area under one roof.
(Sapir, who is in Buenos Aires, has been confined to bed due to influenza. His illness has forced him to cancel several meetings in Argentina. Latest reports are that he is recovering and will continue his tour of several other South American countries.)
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