The Keren Hayesod hopes to raise some $120 million this year, the largest amount since the Six-Day War, Director General S. J. Kreutner announced here. Kreutner said fund-raising campaigns were well under way in 69 countries and pledges were running 25 to 30 percent above last year’s $102 million. The $120 million prognosis allows for subsequent fall-off between pledges and payment, Kreutner said. The largest Increases are expected from Australia, Belgium, Britain, Switzerland and South Africa.
Kreutner ascribed this year’s increases to the “growing identification of world Jewry with the struggle of Soviet Jewry and the enthusiasm generated by Israel’s twenty-fifth anniversary.” He noted that “a certain gap between pledges and paid up cash in some countries remains a problem which has to be tackled vigorously by the leadership of the campaign….”
Kreutner also gave details of the special fund that has been created to raise a total of $50 million for the underprivileged in Israel among those originating from African and Asian countries. The chairman of this effort will be Nissim Gaon of Geneva, president of the International Sephardic Federation.
It is intended to approach some 400 to 500 selected contributors during the next two years for individual contribution of $200,000 dollars each. It will be stipulated that these contributions must be above and beyond what the contributor gives to the regular Keren Hayesod-United Israel Appeal or United Jewish Appeal campaign. The government has undertaken to match whatever monies the special fund raises.
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.
