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FOCUS

BY ELMER L. WINTER
Special to The Jewish News

Israel's Labor Minister re-
leased some shocking figures —
"There are 115,000 Israelis un-
employed at this time." This
constitutes eight percent of the
country's 1.4 million workers.
Labor Minister Katsav predicted
that the unemployment figures
will pass the ten percent mark
by March or April of 1986.
Unemployment in Israel of
these proportions is unaccept-
able, not only to Israel but to
world Jewry as well. Unem-
ployment creates difficult social
problems, increased emigration
from Israel and extreme hard-
ships for the 100,000 Israelis
that are unemployed. To further
aggravate the situation, sub-
sidies have been either removed
or reduced. This causes a severe
strain on family budgets.
It. is anticipated that more
layoffs will occur as cuts are
made in the national and local
Israeli budgets. The work force
of government-owned companies
will also be cut. Israeli industry
cannot pick up the slack since it
too is going through a cost-
cutting program caused by a de-
crease in the demands of the
local market.
Providing an additional
100,000 jobs in Israel is no easy
task. It won't happen overnight.
There are some short-term solu-
tions which will come about as a
result of expansion of exports.
Long-term solutions will occur
through increased foreign in-
vestment in hi-tech factories in
Israel.
Why has unemployment in Is-
rael increased from five percent
a year ago to eight percent this
year? For the most part, the an-
swer can be placed on the
doorstep of the austerity pro-
gram recently imposed in Israel.
The economy of Israel had got-
ten out of hand and a belt tight-
ening program became neces-
sary to get the economy back on
track. The standard of living of
Israelis was pushed down.
Wages and prices have been fro-
zen. Substantial budget cuts had
to be made. Unfortunately, se-
vere unemployment followed in
the wake of the austerity pro-
gram.
How can additional private
sector jobs be created in Israel?
Let me suggest the following:
Israel must utilize its hidden
economic weapon — The buy-
ing power of worldwide Jewry."
The call must go out to "buy
products made in Israel." This
means consumers must ask for
Israeli products in their local
supermarkets ... not just before
holidays, but year round. There
are many excellent food prod-
ucts and wines that should con-
stantly be on the shelves of food
retailers. Israeli garments
should be on racks in men's,
women's and children's apparel
stores.
We need to launch a massive
effort made to urge the Jewish
community to buy Israeli prod-
ucts, whenever possible. We
have a program called "Opera-
tion Join Up, Buy Products
Made in Israel." This describes
how to develop a plan to make

certain that Israeli products are
available in retail stores. This
plan is available without charge
by writing the Committee for
Economic Growth of Israel, 5301
North Ironwood Road, P.O. Box
2053, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
53201.
We need to interest American
wholesalers and distributors to
buy industrial products carrying
the label, "Made in Israel." Is-
raeli industrial products can be
imported into the United States
duty-free as a result of the Free
Trade Agreement. As a result,
these products are competitive
in the American marketplace.
We need to attract American
companies to open factories in
Israel where their products will
be exported. These companies
can follow the pattern of the 155
American companies in Israel
that are operating on a profita-
ble basis.
The Free Trade Agreement
between the United States and
Israel offers opportunities for
American companies to man-
ufacture products in Israel and
sell them to European buyers

Israel's hidden
economic weapon is
the buying power of
world Jewry.

duty-free. Many American corn-
panies are kept out of the Euro-
pean market because of high
duty imposed by European gov-
ernments on products made in
the United States. Israel now of-
fers an important advantage to
those American companies,
hungry for foreign exports.
We need to sell American
companies on the opportunities
and high incentives that are
available to them in Israel.
They need to understand the
reasons behind the construction
of Intel's $150 million plant in
Israel. Israel offers a high level
of engineering and scientific
capability that is attractive to
American hi-tech industry. Is-
rael has truly become the "in
place for innovation."
We need to incorporate an
industrial component into Proj-
ect Renewal plans. Much of the
unemployment in Isarel is in
the Project Renewal develop-
ment towns. The leaders of Proj-
ect Renewal in each community
need to direct their attention to
attracting local companies to set
up factories within their twin
city in Israel. Providing
paychecks rather than welfare
checks is certainly to be desired.
Handwringing won't eliminate
the unemployment of Israel. We
need to take the steps that I
have suggested to create the
100,000 private sector jobs that
will be needed to alleviate the
serious problems created as a
result of a ten percent projected
unemployment figure.

Elmer Winter is chairman of the
Committee for Economic Growth of
Israel.