The number of West Bank residents receiving welfare assistance declined from 200,000 under the Jordanian regime to 33,000 today, Social Welfare Minister Michael Hazani reported. He said that under the Jordanian administration many people received public assistance who did not qualify while many poor families were ignored. Among the current recipients of assistance are families of known terrorists. Government sources announced that more than 70,000 people from neighboring Arab states have crossed the Jordan River to spend their summer vacations in Israel and the occupied territories. Some 2000 people arrive every day from Jordan, Lebanon and Egypt, the sources said. An estimated 150,000 are expected to visit this summer.
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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.