The tendency of Jews in the United States and other countries to give priority to their own institutions over institutions functioning in Israel when allocating funds raised in local Jewish communities was criticized here today by Berl Locker, chairman of the Jewish Agency executive.
Speaking at the national conference of the Mapai, Israel Labor Party, he pointed out that such priority is not justified when thousands of Jewish immigrants in Israel are still condemned to live in tents and when many more thousands are confronted with the “loss of their very existence in certain countries” where they presently reside.
Mr. Locker said that world Jewry is not yet conscious of the fact that it must contribute everything in its power to help Israel absorb the maximum number of immigrants. This, despite the huge contributions which are being made by the Jews of the United States, he stressed. He urged the Israel Labor Party to “convey to world Jewry the paramount necessity of large-scale absorption of immigrants in Israel on the principle that each Jew is individually responsible for facilitating this work.”
The Jewish Agency chairman asserted that Zionism’s aims were not realized with the birth of the state of Israel, which he described as only a “decisive step in the implementation of the Zionist mission.” He said that “so long as 90 percent of the Jewish people is still outside of Israel’s borders, the Zionist mission is only commencing execution of its task.” The planned absorption in Israel of 200,000 immigrants annually represents an expenditure of $200,000,000, he said.
Finance Minister Eliezer Kaplan told the Mapai conference that “our main problems are intensified production, since, despite the growth in population, output has increased only 16 percent.” The Israel Government, he stated, urges manufacturers to assist in creation of efficiency factory committees and “will even resort to legislation for its implementation, if necessary.”
A total of $196,000,000 was invested in Israel enterprises in one year and the investment rate is gradually increasing, Mr. Kaplan disclosed. By the end of July, 1950, he said the government’s investment center approved the formation of 102 new business enterprises involving a total investment of $33,600,000, half of which was contributed by Israel business men.
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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.
