The U.S. government has provided a grant of $50 million to Israel to help her meet financial burdens from national defense and resettlement of immigrants from the Soviet Union and other areas. The grant the second of that amount in 10 months for those purposes, was formalized Friday at a ceremony at the State Department in which Yitzhak Rabin, in his final act as Ambassador of Israel, signed an agreement transferring the funds to his government. Dr. John A. Hannah, administrator of the Agency for International Development (AID); signed for the United States.
Leaving Washington yesterday en route to Jerusalem at the end of a five-year term as Ambassador, Rabin expressed gratitude to American officials for having speeded up the paper work attendant to the agreement to enable him to sign it before his departure.
“This agreement and the predecessor of last May which we have fully utilized are clear, tangible evidence of U.S. support for Israel’s security, economic strength and independence,” Rabin said. “On behalf of the people of Israel, I extend our gratitude to the people of the United States, their President, his administration and the Congress for decisions and acts that have made this ceremony possible.”
EXPRESSION OF U.S. FRIENDSHIP FOR ISRAEL
In his response, Dr, Hannah said, “We are pleased to help Israel maintain the economic stability necessary for successful fulfillment of her efforts for defending and developing herself as a nation.” A statement issued by the State Department said that the signing represents “another concrete expression of the long and warm friendship between Israelis and Americans as part of the continuing U.S. effort to help Israel maintain economic stability in the period of heavy defense expenditures.”
The grant will also help Israel in resettling emigrants “who in their new lives will have new opportunities to use their talents for self-development and for continuing the growth of Israel, ” the statement added. The $50 million are in the form of dollar financing made available for Israel to purchase imports of a variety of industrial and miscellaneous commodities from the U.S. to which “related services also may be added” according to the statement.
Under the agreement the goods imported under the U.S. grant will be sold in Israel and the proceeds, which will be in Israeli pounds, will be applied to the general support of Israel’s national budget. The Israelis are expected to use the aid financing for industrial, agricultural, scientific, textile and office equipment. Import transactions since July 1, 1972 are eligible retroactively for the financing. Delivery of goods may be made through June 30, 1974.
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.
