— The Defense Ministry has informed the Israel Manufacturers Association that it will be forced to switch orders for goods previously made locally to foreign suppliers, against payment in dollars, owing to a shortage of local currency because of defense budget cuts. A ministry decision to order about $1 million worth of a special barbed wire needed for new airfield construction in the Negev from an American company was cancelled recently following the intervention of Commerce and Industry Minister Gideon Patt. If the order had been placed abroad, some 400 workers at a factory in the development town of Kiryat Gat would have been made idle.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.