The first drillings for oil in Israel will be made early next year, Pinhas Saphir, head of the development department of the Israel Finance Ministry, said tonight in a broadcast. Operations will also be started then in mines in the Negev which are expected to produce two to three thousand tons of copper annually.
The Israel official also predicted speedy activity in potash production here. He said a mission has been sent abroad recently to acquire equipment for potash production valued at $2,500,000. The “wilderness road” from Beersheba to Sdom on the Dead Sea would be completed soon, he said, and would be used for transport of the Negev’s minerals.
Israel’s industrial output jumped over 100 percent in the three years between 1948 and 1950, from $139,000,000 to $290,000.00, Dov Joseph, Trade and Industry Minister, told a Mapai rally at Ramat Gan. Dr. Joseph said that the total annual industrial potential of the country is $130,000,000 of which $51,000,000 can be realized in hard currencies. The potential of the country’s heavy industry alone is $45,000,000 of which $19,000,000 could be in hard cash.
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.
