Mrs. Golda Meir, Israel’s Foreign Minister, declared tonight that while Israel has had a rapid economic development, “we could have been much farther ahead if we did not have to carry the great burden of security, “
Speaking at an Israel Bord dinner here, the first city on an intensive coast-to-coast tour, Mrs. Meir reported that Israel had passed the midway point on the road to economic independence as a result of investment capital received through the Israel Bond drives.
She added that since Israel’s Arab neighbors “refuse to make peace with us and declare daily their determination to destroy us and since there are those who supply them with large quantities of arms, we must not fail to do everything possible to maintain our ability to defend ourselves.”
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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.