Minister of Commerce and Industry Haim Barlev has confirmed that the government pays export incentives to publishers of missionary tracts in Israel which are disseminated abroad, and said they would continue to receive the incentives, worth IL 1.64 to the dollar. “I don’t care what they are exporting as long as their sales contribute to the economy by bringing in dollars,” Barlev told the Knesset Finance Committee.
He also noted that the government cannot discriminate against this particular type of export. Committee member, Shlomo Lorincz, of the Aguda bloc which first raised the issue, contended that contributors to the United Jewish Appeal and purchasers of Israel Bonds would be deterred if they learned that their money subsidized missionary pamphlets. Barlev rejected that argument.
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.
