Finance Minister Pinhas Sapir told the Knesset today that whenever peace comes to the Middle East, Israel “will be able to meet with the finance and economic ministers of the neighboring states and plan together with them the economic development of the region.” But Sapir observed that for the present, Israel remains on a war footing and the fiscal 1971 budget which he introduced in the Knesset today reflects that fact. Sapir paid warm tribute to the United States and especially President Richard M. Nixon for the generous military and economic aid America has given Israel. “In the context of our foreign currency expenditures for security needs, it is a debt of honor to express our feelings of gratitude…Our deep thanks are given to President Nixon, to the government of the United States and its people for the military and economic aid they have granted us by means of timely loans.” Sapir also paid tribute to diaspora Jewry. “Anyone who has had the privilege as I have, of seeing the multitudes of Jewry in those fateful hours, sharing our worries, feeling our pain and rejoicing in our victory, standing in queues to give their property–anyone who was witness to this spectacle will never forget it,” he said.
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