The Israel Bond Organization has sold $489, 000, 000 worth of Israel bonds since it was founded ten years ago, Finance Minister Levi Eshkol announced here today. One million people purchased these bonds, “and these people are our partners, ” Mr. Eshkol declared.
The Finance Minister reported the figures at a press conference held in connection with the forthcoming celebration of the tenth anniversary of the Israel Bond Organization. Attending the conference was Dr. Joseph J. Schwartz, executive vice-president, who is here now planning the organization’s tenth anniversary conference, to be convened here in July. According to Dr. Schwartz, the bond campaign expects to reach total sales of $500, 000, 000 by the time the July sessions open.
Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion paid tribute to the basic concept of the bond drive at the press conference. “Like many other accomplishments in Zionist pioneering, ” he said, “the bond achievement was accomplished against the advice of the ‘experts. Experts had said that Jews would not leave their city dwellings to become farmers–but they did. We were told by experts that we could never make a living language of Hebrew–but we did. We were advised by experts that Jews would give to philanthropy but would not invest in bonds–but the Jews did invest. We will go on doing the things that seem impractical but which are necessary.”
Dr. Schwartz said that bond sales, instead of diminishing, are actually increasing, reporting that 1961 sales are 10 percent above the 1960 figure. Mr. Eshkol also praised the United Jewish Appeal, which he called “the bedrock upon which our economic and cultural structure is being erected. “
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.
