150 Jewish Leaders to Participate in Conference Convened by Mrs. Meir

More than 150 North American Jewish leaders prominent in civic affairs, business and the professions departed from Kennedy Airport last night aboard a special El Al Israel Airlines plane to participate in an extraordinary conference on Israel’s economic needs which opens today in Jerusalem and ends Wednesday.

The four-day conference is expected to lay the groundwork for the launching of the largest worldwide campaign for the sale of Israel Bonds ever undertaken since the first Israel Bond issue was floated in the United States in 1951. An unprecedented total of $270,404,750 in Israel Bond sales was recorded in 1972, bringing to $2.2 billion the total sold since the inception of the Israel Bond drive. The key community leaders from the United States and Canada received personal invitations from Premier Golda Meir to take part in deliberations on ways to expand and strengthen Israel’s economy at a crucial period in its history.

In a statement issued prior to the departure, Leo Bernstein, executive vice-president of the Israel Bond Organization, emphasized the importance of the extraordinary campaign which will be undertaken this year, when Israel celebrates its 25th anniversary. He pointed out that Israel’s economic tasks have been increased as a result of the unresolved crisis in the Middle East and increased immigration from Soviet Russia and other countries.

During the conference, the participants will confer with Mrs. Meir. Deputy Prime Minister Yigal Allon, Finance Minister Pinchas Sapir, Defense Minister Moshe Dayan, and other Government leaders; will visit strategic areas of the country and inspect major development projects to view the progress accomplished in the past two decades with Israel Bonds, and meet with Jewish immigrants from the Soviet Union.