Malben, the agency of the Joint Distribution Committee that provides for the care of the aged, has decided to contribute several million pounds to an extensive program to assist the elderly and disabled citizens of Israel, it was announced here today.
The program, initiated in cooperation with the Government, was described in a report given to the leaders of the Council of Jewish Federations and Welfare Funds now in Israel for conferences on meeting increased national needs caused by the Arab-Israel six-day war.
The plan calls for the establishment, over a five-year period, of 12 new homes for the aged. Malben currently operates 11 homes, comprising about half of the nation’s facilities for the aged, In presenting the plan to the American Jewish group. Malben’s general director Harold Trobe emphasized that, while Israel’s population is still relatively young in comparison with other advanced countries, the number of men over 65 and women over 60 has increased by 100 percent over the past 10 years.
Malben’s plan would add more than 1,000 beds to the present 3.300 in the agency’s present institutions, and the 3,700 beds in municipal and government institutions. A shortage of facilities for the chronically ill in Israel was also the subject of a report to the American Jewish leaders.
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