Mrs. Meir, Sapir on 34-city Hook-up in U.S. Urge Support of Israel Bonds Campaign

Premier Golda Meir of Israel and Pinhas Sapir, Israel’s Finance Minister, initiated yesterday a 10-day pre-inaugural campaign for Israel Bonds in an overseas telephone hookup from Jerusalem prior to the opening of the 1971 drive in Miami Beach on March 6. The worldwide campaign for the sale of $400 million in Israel Bonds this year will be inaugurated by Israel’s President Zalman Shazar who will be a special guest of honor at the three-day international inaugural Israel Bond Conference which begins March 4. The telephone hook-up, which originated here, was linked to 34 cities in the United States and Canada. Sapir reported that at the present time, Israel is spending close to $5 million a day for defense, or a total of $1.7 billion for the year–and about five times what Israel spent in 1967, the year of the Six-Day War. This amounts to 85 percent of Israel’s total tax revenue, he said, leaving only a very small portion for economic development. He stated that the citizens of Israel are the most heavily taxed people in the world, pointing out that an Israeli pays 82 percent in taxes and compulsory loans on everything he earns above $900 a month. In order to proceed with a Development Budget of more than $546 million, he asserted, Israel must receive $400 million from Israel Bonds this year. The Finance Minister added that only by moving forward with development projects can Israel hope to maintain the strength of its economy.

Mrs. Meir, calling for the fullest measure of Jewish involvement in the 1971 drive, said: “You men and women are the source of our strength and determination. We are with you and you are with us–we are together. We are together in the tension, in the joy and, above all, in the building of Israel. As long as we stand together, the day will come when we will speak to each other in the knowledge that there is finally peace in Israel as you and we want it to be.” Samuel Rothberg, general chairman of Israel Bonds Organization, and Leo Bernstein, executive vice-president, speaking on the same 34-city hook-up, issued an argent call for a successful launching of the Israel Bond campaign. Rothberg emphasized to his listeners that they “must not lose any time in getting started. He asserted that “this is a crucial year, a year when important decisions may be made involving the future of Israel.” Bernstein urged the local Bond leaders and volunteers to mobilize their communities for the opening of the $400 million campaign.