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The Canadian JevwshNews/i^ May 3,1968 -ftige 9
. Tte Land of Israel was the birtbplace of tbe Jewish people. Here tbelr spiritual, religious and natltHial identity was formed. Herd U^y achieved IndeiXNidettce and createdacul-ture of natlraal iolplversal significance. Here they wrote
and gave the Bible td^the worlds
ETxiled ftomttie Und of Israel ttie Jewish pe« ed faithAil to It Inallthecountriesof their dispersion, never ceasing to pray and hope for their returnand the restoration of their national freedom; Impelled by this historic associa-tloDL Jews strove throughout the cienturies to go back to the land of their fathisrs and regain their statehood. In recent decades they returned in their masses. They reclaimed the wilderness^revlved flielr language, built cities and vUlagies, and established a vigorous and ever-growing community, with its own economic and cultural life. They sou^t peace yet were prepared to defend themselves. They brought the blessings of progress to all inhabitants! of the country sind looked forward to sovereieh Independence.
Accordingly w& the members of the National Council, representing the Jewish people in Palestine and the World Zionist Movement are met together in solemn asseinUy today, the day of termination of ttie British Mandate for Palestine: and by virtue of ttie natural and historic right of the Jewish people and of the Resolution of the General Assembly of the United Nations.
We hereby proclaim the establishment of the Jewish State in Palestine, to be called Medinat Ylsrael (The State of Is-
The State of Israel will be open to the immigration of Jews from all countries of their dl^rsion; will promote the development of the country for the benefit of all its inhabitants; will be based cm the mrinciples of liberty, justice and peace as conceived by the Prc^hete of Israel; will uphold the full social and political equality of all its citizens, wlttiout distinction of religira, race or sex; will guarantee freedom of relieion, conscience, educaticm and pulture; will safeguard the Holy Places of all religiras; and will loyally uphold the principles of the United Njations Charter.
We extend our hand in peace andneigUMrliness to aU the neighboring states and their peoples, and invite them to cooperate with the independent Jewish nation fbr the common good of iOl. The State of Israel is prepared to make its cm-tribution to the progress of be Middle East as a whole.
Our call goes out to the Jewish pe<^e all over the world to rally to our side in the task of immigration and development and to stand by us in the great smuggle for tiie fUlfU-ment of the dream of generations for the redemption of Israel.
With trust in the Rock of Israd, we set our hand to this Declaration, at this Session of the Provisional State Council, on the soil of the Homeland, in the city of Tel Aviv, on Oils Sabbath eve, the fifth of lyar, 5708, the fourteenth day of May, 1948.
Novemtwr 29 intora. IifmI
Diecefmljer 7 D«iM BwKhiflofl
Boktrl
October 29 8iMl Campaign b«glm
IMaich 25 FirittMp arrivM alEtath
August 19
Firat Intemalioiwl
Bible OontMt
January i28 KnMMt Spiaker Jcwiiph
I
July 4
Alomle rtador to Ult
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Julys FInt space rocket launched
il NbvembiN; 21. » Arad naMr g town ^P|ii{td
May It
lirati MuNum InausuraM
June 5 Si»Oay War
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May 2 itnwrs ,
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JERUSALEM: - The story of a tuition's economic de-vel^ment'fajfenerally told in statistlcis. But any person who visited Israel In the early 1950's and who returned in the early 1960'8 for a second visit needs no statistlcis to tell him of the jprogress Israel has made in thfe 20 years: since its independence^ New cities have miisIiroomcKl up out of the dand and rock; seemihgly ov^ridght, to give the modern day uhabitants a world of (^rtunlty andsatlsfac-Ubn never befbre available to them. With the clUes have grown agriculture; new farming settlements, new fields rescued Drom Ithe passage ti time, new crops, aud new farming techniques. With the cities have gtown new factories producing the fhll range of products needed by a modern society^ Many problems still await the Israel economy but any lesser word than miraculous falls to describe the accomplishments.
Arad. Carmiel, Ashdod, Eilat, Kiryat Shemona, Dl-mona and Addulam, are Just a few of the cities established since 1948; Other cities such as Ashkelon, Beer-sheba and Hadera have undergone such Intensive development so as to be nearly unrecognizable to those who knew these areas before.
Israel's economy has been growing at an average 9% in gross national product every year, which gives it one of the highest growth rates in the world. National income is over $1,000 per capita which now compares favorably with the more advanced nations of Europe. And it has only been 20
years. The transition has been from i comparatively primitive economy toampd-; ern economy. An accoinp^ lishment which it should be recalled, was achieved at a: time when the nation faced' a border challisnge which forced it to. spiend a; dls-; proportionate am o u n t of sorely needed capital on defence.-
How was the miracle of Israel's economic development accomplished? The answer Is three fold: zeal, organization and capital! If any one of these tbre<e had been missing there is little doubt that not only would Israel have failed to make the economic strides described, but' she would have without a doubt have been wiped out by her antagonistic neighbors long ago.
The zeal Is represented in the vitality with which the Israelis have marshalled their strength to acculturate and absorb more than twice their number in new immigrants. It is ishown in their love for the land and the willingness with which their young volunteer for work in border kibbutzim, go out to farm new areas, embrace western technolo^ as if they had been bom to It, and effectively awly this technology with the necessary adaptations to their own unique conditions. If there have been failures in specific projects, these failures can usually be ascribed to an excess of zeal, rather than indifference.
The organization is shown in the Israeli ability to bring project from planning to fruition with the use of its own architects and planners, contractors and builders, and in tbe final analysis foremen
and woi'kers. Foir ott (Bach level^feach 'knows.; Jils 'task and Is abl0 to acc'oinjpUsh it Without tbe top to bottom capab<y of tiJdng the capital and using it fo'turn dreams into 'reality thtoe can be no reality.' '
The third and in many ways the most crucial element in the^ Area of economic accomidlshnientis capital; It' \s m 'Mement most available^ to those who needitleast, andmostscarce among those who ne^ it most. Putting/it another way . V. the rich get richer and poor get poorer. In the world of nationsastatewim-oiit capital has not even the bootstraps with which topidl itself up. It is possihle for nations to slowly,'(fgonl£lngly accumulate local capital, but this is dependent up<m the country's natural wejiatb and a favorable balance trftrade. Israel had comparatively little natural wealth and a heavy Influx of itew immigrants giuranteed ^ that the balance of traide would offer little opporhmlty, at least in the early yeariS, for the accrual of local cimital,.....
Yet tibe capitafdid coihe. It came in the form of loans from the United States. It came in the form; of reparations firom Germany. And most Important it came from the hearts of Jews the world over who set and and are still setting records in perstHial generosity i^ch mav never be matched.
At first the money came in the form of dcmtioiis to Jewish charities, money which went to build the tent camps for the new immigrants. Then it came in the form of Israel Bonds, earmarked for economic de^ velopment. The capital
TRADE WITH INDIA DESPITE TENSION
BY
TREVOR DRIEBERG
anger at having to go home empty-handed they had only ttiemselves to blame for having come here with expec-NEW DELHI - To fbe tations which economic and members of the Israel de^ political commonsense
Tcirence <» Trade.and impractlcaMei: .
would 1)0 coldly received and kept at armslength by Indian officials and laymen had not been warranted. They found they couldmove aboutfree-ly, th^t they fere not the
And they met with an almost unquenchable thirst for knowledge about their country and its people, one oft-repeated queistion being how Israel had solved the
Development the^ fact that it ended with a whimper after two months of speech-making and discussions and firantlC' last-minute efforts to make it yield some little gain to the developingcount-ries'came ais no surprise.
From the start, those Israeli delegates with whom I talked said a conference of this size which had been entered into without adequate advance planning had little hopes of producing anything tangible, and if many delegations firom Asia, Africa and Latin America e^ressed
But of the Israelis Itcian by no means be said to have been a profitless mission. On the contrary, it was an invaluable opportunity to learn much and to sh«l, in the process, some misapprehensions about India which should be of considerable use to the Israel Government
FEARS ALLAYED
On their arrival the delegates, none of whom had ever been here before, found that their fears that they
pjrtOpni tbe ,<UYprsi(y„o| hostU^/O^ thf t'ea^Udhis languages of thesetUers,wfao
of ofncMti whom they met ranged from polite correctness to easy and frank cordiality, and that among the general public the reaction to learning that they were Israelis was one of admiration and respect.
In fact, many of the delegates recorded numerous expressions of a keen desire to visit Israel and cultivate closer perscnal relations with Israelis. They also re-^ beived as many personal pressing invitations to re-birn to India,
had come from all parts of the world. Another matter on irtiich intormaticm was as eagerly sought was the spectacular advance Israel has made in agriculture. This was natural, for India is bedevilled as much by food shortage as by frenzied hostility to making Hindi the official national language instead of En^ish.
As much interest was shown in the cooflict with the Arabs, and perhaps the most significant instance of the average eduoited Indian's
sympathy for Israel was the presentation to Mr. Yosef Shaphir, Minister without Portfolio, of a^'^ord on behalf of the Al]^-Indla Sikh YouQ^ Men's Ass<)cIatIon to
be;dellit^r^4o^fl^h6^' " " as^at^kpnofesteewj^,
It would be iu><a]9g^rs. to say that tne'^jpewsi^r coverage In Deli.nl of the. ,activltlies of'^ Israel delegation exce^ed that of all the Arab delegations put t(«ether. This telates not (Muy to reports bf the proceedings of UNCTAD, where IsralBl, made its mark with Uie Horowitz proposal of financing aid, but also of funcUohs at which delegation members spoke, and special Interviews. /
The two receptions organised by n^embers of Parliament, the first by Mr.
enas
on Mid-East
The repercussion of Nigeria's internal troubles on the country's relati(ns with Israelj Wch have deteriorated in recent times, were acknowledged,, if only implicitly, at a meeting in Jerusalem with a visiting Nigerian, Dr. Obarc^e Ohonbamu, lecturer in- law at Lagos University;
On a week's visit as guest of the Foreign Ministry, he was Introduced to cor-resiwndents by officials as a 'political activist, and ah Afrlcanlst witb an inter-natlohal horizon." .
Dr. Ohonbamu has studied at HuU and Oxford Univer^ sitles in England, and then Red Germany at the Karl Marx Universij^ in Leip.]^ and Is the author ofseveral ^books.,-'
Nigeria offers an illustra-ti(Hi of how one can drUt hito a position on the Israel-Arab dispute on enUre* ly extraneous grounds. The term drift Is used, sliice prior to- the troubles in Nigeria, excellent relations aiKl close coopera-Uonlexlsted between the two countriies. Cooperation continued until nine months ago when the secessionist war. i br(*e out, with the EasteJrn Region setting itself up as Biafra. Till then, Israel rendered techhlcal aid to this West African coun-^
try,, and considerab^ development, i c t i v 11 y 'carried out by Israel hiwx joiiht Nlgerlan-rlisrael contract In g firms on a variety of public works in three of the four Regions into! %hlch Nigeria was then constitutied: the E as ter n, Westerb, and Mid-V^estern Regionk. r ; .
The Northern probably the main cause tot the present decline in relatlMis with Nigeria, is priedomlnantly Moslem, but even here technical aid fOi trainees in Israel was arrange throu^ the Federal Government in Lagos. Some trainees in fact are sfiU studying in Israel.
Relations with Lagos were good - until the outbreak of the secessionist hostilities. Since then, Nigeria's stand at the U.N. has been cautiously described here as "not favourable" to Israel, the caution prompted by Nigeria's evidentdlsinclina-tion to yield wholeheartedly to Arab, and possibly Soviet pressures to take an all-out anti-Israel stand.
Last year, when Nigeria sat on the Security Council, its vote had to be reckoned by Israel as going to the (^position, though with some reserVatipns.
AFTER THE WAR ^Discussing this question of Nigerian - brael rielatlons,' Dr. Ohonbamu at one point ■.said:-,
"After the war we can decide who are our friends and who our enemies."
Several tlmeis in our talk he referred to reports which have cropped up in various places intermittently, about tst-aerald to Biatra, which he InvariablKi^lfled with -If it is true." \V
Foreign Ministry officials v^o were i)resent emphatically refuted these api^ent-ly inspired reports, which have also^repeatedly been denied officailjr by Israel spokesmen in the past;
Works carried out in what was formerly deisigiiated the Eastern Region (the Federal
Region, Government in
Jerusalem Post Seirvice Lagos has
announced the reconstltutira of Nigeirla Into 12 confederation Stated) predated the secessionist troubles. With the outbreak of the war, aU Israel nationals were ordered to withdraw, in line with similar steps taken by other countries.
This was also said in reply to Dr^Ohonbamu's reference to Israel coostructiwi of hangars in Biafra, to which he had added the rider
•If it is true that Israel naticmals arei helping Biafra-as individuals orsen^Idon't know." ■.. -
He recaUed that he had discussed these reported allegations with tbe Israel Ambassador in Lagos, who, he said, had been "furious* about it.
To orfy question whether these aUegations. deniedby Israel, were in fact not the real cause of Nigeria now siding with the Arabs at the U.N., but that this was prompted by Nigeria's bid for support against the secessioniste^ Dr. Ohonba-mu said:
"We are at war how and we take aid'from anywhere. We had a foreign policy supposed to be nooaligned. But when the troubles came, our traditional friends turned their backSi Russia came to our aid." Again he remarked: "fi Israel did aid Biafra, it 'was probaldy our own fault" He added that< f Tradlttonally; the East was more friendly to Israel; the North trowned on it; in the West there was chaos."
EGYPTIAN INSTRUCTORS •
Asked whataid the Federal' Government was getting
from, the Arabs, he replied "Not as such...,We were compeUed to buy Mlgs, and so we had to borrow some pilots from Egypt to train our men. TheEg^)fianpllbts do not fly our planes.f Dr; Oh(Mibamu said he believed in self-help. But the war was forced on Nigeria. Russia, he said, was "compulsorily our friend ... this did not mean;.we are Communists."
One had-to go back to the "isociology of our societyj" he continued." ''The North-predominantly Moslem, the Soutt Christian. At first, the Priemler of the North said It would not recognize Israel The Federal Government countered 'It was not your business'. The'. North was running the show. But: a compromise was reached; with the South. The Federal Government was piushed by the War. Outside the war, we are not looking for anything in the Arab world, and don't think they can give us aid.
either in money or technical
aid." - ;
Earlier, Dr. Ohonbamu opened pie discussion by outlintog the background: and history of the current strife in his country. He traced the crisis to 1964 and a
glaaned coup by Crtonel jukwu, the Biaflrai seces->; sionist leader. JSlKe Nasser;-he had planned to remove Ironsl and take Us place,: , he said. Because he failed, ^ he began to talk about genocide of the Ibos. Now / that thousands/'ofr;Ibos and Nigerians:; had^ oeffli killed in the war, be wanted to ,talk pieace. CounUess Ibos 'were im^risbned'^in Biafra, who, if released, would certainly dbme forward to make peace - without CoU •Ojukwu^ be said.'
As regards his visit here, he said he was sympathetic to Israel, and' that coming: here he had learned that it was "more complicated."He hoped; he would see the "othei^ Side" before summer.
Dahrabhai Patel,' leader of the Swatantra Party eroup in the Rajya SabhaCupper House), for Mr. Michael Comay and tbe second by Mr. BalrajMadhok,ex-President the AkhH Bbaratiya Jana Sangb and a member of the Lok Sabha (Lower House), were a notable success. AU parties, including the Congress Party but excluding the two wings of the Communist Party and splinter grouiKi owing allegiance to them, were re-preisented at these gather-
an essay in public relations, the delegation has been a pronounced success; But even more Important is lis discovery that plenty of sc<^ exists for trade ei-changes withliodla. The fact that Delhi has no diplomatic relaUcns with Jerusalem Is not as those delegates who met officials as well as private businessmen found, a barrier to trade. They bad the satisfaction of learning, from official sources connected with trade and commerce, that flie Indian Government has not impoised roadblocks to .trade but
would, on the contrary, welcome it
Nor does the lack of a formal bilateral pact inhibit trade, provided each side finds that tbeetl^rha8.gobds U nee<te^ jtt^-ii-.eas^ikable Ibices. 7, AsV^ytciuuously felt thelir way round/ they learnt that India was much more developed Industrially than they had sui^>iosed, and that It was In a position to sun;>ly Israel with a fairly wide range of capital goods, including railway rolling stock and other requirements such as rails and sleepers and sophisticated signalling equipment i^QSOt steel, pig irwi, iron ore and coal.
.FERTILIZER NEEDED ^ India's most urgent requirement for which Israel Is the most convenient source of supply, is fertiliser; This year, India will have to Import about 700,000 metric tons of fertiliser for the targeted needs of agriculture, which are, however, far belovr what it would really need If the level of use per acre was raised to comparable world stand-
ards. Rock phosphate and agricultural expertise are two other Indian requlre-mente that Israel Is In a position to satisfy.
The-tafioMfieube^s^srae deieita»iaiA hMii 3ai««4
Informally fltfarqpt^ials of the Ministry of Commerce, the State Trading Corporation and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry as weU as wiUi Industriiallsfs and trading concerns have Indicated a favbnrable climate for': trade and laid tbe.patti for.,jsore.lntenslve activity In tiie. Immediate future. Currently, tiiese Initial steps are bemg followed up by Uie Asian Trading Company of Israel, and. ttiere is no reason why tiiey should not bear fruit
But two facts are clear: if a peace settiement could be effected in the Middle East any Inhibitions in certain official circles to encouraging trade and other contacts wlUi Israel would be. removed; cootrarlly, M ttie atmosphere worsens, these same cfrcles might take positive steps to discourage trade.
helped boUd the modern com-miinlcathms network of roads and ^highways without which economic development Is unthinkable. It financed the extension of electrical power ^oughtrat the country^ As a result output since 1955 has increased tiuree fUd. The number of employees has grown from 127^000 to 225,000 and industrial exports haVe risen from I6S mUUon to $407 mmioo.
The accomplishments are a cause for pride for aU who have tad a part In Is* rael's economic development but It Is Impossible for Israelis and those who support her to ease the pace of develcqpment The pressures of a'hostile envfron-ment stlU threaten Instant anlhllatiui tot an unvlgllant pe<q?ie. A secwe andmature Israeli indusfrlal capability Is perhaps the surest guarantee of peace In tbt Middle.East It Is In acknowledgment of ttds iact of Ufe that the Israel government Is activelyeneouraglng foreign Investment Under Oie newly amended Law for the Encouragement of Capital Investanent incentives such as large aUowances for der preciation, and relief from property, income, custom and purchase taxes are^ given to approved enterprises.
It should be recalled tiiat the Israelis tax ttiemselves more ttian anv other nation In the world. And the government's willingness toprovlde relief In tUs area is a clear Indication of the warmth and cooperation InvesK^s In the counti^ can expeat
Industrial giants such as Sheraton, Hilton, %idebaker. Kaiser, Ford, and Phllco have already joined with 250. other American enterprises In establishing business venr teres in Israet Where warranted, tbe government Unrougb Its Induisfarlal Bank makes loans available. While - the eccmomy Is mixed; Including private, state and cooperative e n t e r p r I s e s, most of Uie plants are privately owned and these account for the employment of an>roxlmately 70% of Um w^e earners.
Israel boaste a large sklll,e(^^ labor force, an to-dustdal ,growtb.xate of 13%^. established markets In Africa and Asia as well as Europe^ a well developed local market and highly trained professlraal per-sonnet In addition tiiere are the research faculties of world famous universities.
The chaUenges of the past 20 years have been clearly met The chaUenge of \b» next 20 must see the farther development of Israeli Induistry until she takes her place as a leading industrial nation. Not just adapting western technology to her own needs but Indeed, helping to devel<* new tech-nbloey, serving as an example of what man can accomplish with zeal, organl-zatfon and capital, and making Uie benefits of her own experience freely avaflable to tiie underdeveloped world, whlcb so sfr(»igly desires Its own place of pride vamg tbe ni^tiuis of man.
in
# Irv thtst hisforic days, Tlit Conddiqn Jtwisk Ntws will continut to rtport (octs ond onolyit thi niorch of tytnts s^ what is Importaht and rt itvant to ydur own IiU and tht futurt of your
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•' SOVIET AID FOR WAR, NOT FOR PEACB, - Syrian leader Nureddln Atassf leads his coUeagufrs on a tour^of a Soviet submarine, part «of the' Russian naval force.visiting
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