Premier David Ben Gurion, addressing a mass meeting at the Ain Harod settlement, today emphasized that the danger of a “second round” of war was real and said that “mass immigration is therefore essential to populate the wide and empty spaces in Israel.”
“Our generation must decide to what extent it is ready to take part in the great Jewish revolution, which is only just beginning,” he stated. Nearly 400,000 immigrants came to Israel since the establishment of the state, he said, adding that several sections of the Diaspora, including Yemen, have been liquidated. “This is only a small beginning as compared with the needs of the future,” he stressed.
The deterioration of the political situation, the Israel Premier asserted, “necessitates the total mobilization of all forces of the nation.” The collective settlement movement, he added, must “provide larger possibilities for immigration and absorption.”
The Israel Premier oriticized the present attitude of the collectives, declaring that their “fanatic adherence to their ideology drives them to curtail their own farming activities to avoid the necessity of obtaining hired labor.”
Israel President Chaim Weizmann has recovered from an illness, it was announced here. Dr. Weizmann expressed thanks to all organizations and individuals who inquired about his health during the illness. Premier Ben Gurion and other members of the Cabinet visited the President during the past few days.
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