Creation of a Port Authority for Israel has been recommended by Austin J. Tobin, executive director of the Port of New York Authority, Mr. Tobin revealed here this weekend after returning from Israel.
Since Mr. Tobin went to Israel to survey the port situation there at the request of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, financial circles here today expressed the belief that the World Bank would now approve a long-pending Israeli application for a multi-million dollar loan.
Eugene R. Black, president of the World Bank, who was also in Israel recently, had hinted that the Israeli loan request would be granted if the port authority were found feasible by Mr. Tobin.
Israel’s loan application envisages two principal goals: port development, and expansion of the phosphate industry. The World Bank has been asked by Israel to help finance the port development scheme. which is to cost a total of about $64, 000, 000, with a loan aggregating between $25,000, 000 and $30, 000, 000.
Recommending the establishment of the Port Authority for Israel, Mr. Tobin said he foresees a division of function between Israel’s three major ports. Haifa. would concent rate chiefly on handling imports of iron ore, semi-finished iron and steel items and other raw materials, and the export of industrial products. The new port of Ashdod, like Heifa also on the Mediterranean Sea, would specialize in the shipping of Israel’s major export item, citrus fruits. The third port, Eilat, on the Gulf of Akaba, would specialize in the shipment of phosphates and potash obtained by Israel in the Dead Sea area.
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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.
