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12

FRIDAY, JULY 6, 1990

Fund-raising

Continued from Page 5

receipts from Operation Ex-
odus rise this year from $200
million, as originally
planned, to $300 million, the
agency will still not be able
to pay its previous share of
absorption costs.
Simcha Dinitz, chairman
of the Jewish Agency Exec-
utive, said that the agency
has asked the government to
pick up a larger share of the
initial absorption grant pro-
vided for Soviet immigrants.
Until now, the agency and
the government have split
the cost evenly. The agency
now wants to reduce its
share to 25 percent, with the
government picking up the
rest.
Finance Minister Yitzhak
Modal last week urged dele-
gates at the Jewish Agency
Assembly to reduce services
in their own communities,
borrow funds and make cuts
in other areas of agency ac-
tivity, so that more Diaspora
funds would be available for
aliyah and absorption.
Diaspora leaders re-
sponded that if Israel hoped
to receive more funds, it
would have to demonstrate
that immigrant absorption
was a top priority.
Kaplan said that the will-
ingness of Diaspora leaders
to launch a new phase of the
Operation Exodus campaign
would depend in part on pro-
gress made in Israel by Oc-
tober, when the Jewish
Agency Board of Governors
next convenes.
"The credibility of the
government is linked to
what happens on the
ground," Kaplan said. "If
there is no housing or job
creation, our task will be
more difficult. We need pro-
gress in Israel before we can
establish the next phase (of
the campaign.)"
Many attending the
assembly were dismayed to
learn that most of the
declarations made over the
past six months by former
Housing Minister David
Levy about housing starts
for new immigrants were
groundless.
Relatively little new con-
struction had actually
started because of feuding
between Levy and former
Finance Minister Shimon
Peres, and because building
contractors had stalled, in
an attempt to extract more
incentives from the govern-
ment.
The assembly delegates
applauded the intention of
the new housing minister,
Ariel Sharon, to sweep bu-
reaucratic obstacles out of
the way and to import 3,000
prefabricated houses now to

take care of immediate
needs.
Sharon received emergen-
cy powers from the Cabinet
on Sunday to begin impor-
ting the houses immedi-
ately.
The government estimates
that the supply of available
rental housing for new im-
migrants will dry up by
November. It will take an-
other year or so, however,
before apartments started
now will be finished.
To cover the gap in the
interim, Sharon has decided
to order a total of 40,000
prefab homes, some im-
ported and others to be pro-
duced locally. They will be
placed near existing towns
and cities, so that the immi-
grants will be close to
municipal services and
sources of employment.

The government
estimates that the
supply of available
rental housing for
new immigrants
will dry up by
November.

The blueprint calls for con-
struction of 45,000 apart-
ments each year, in addition
to 6,000 already under con-
struction, and the renova-
tion of 4,000 public housing
apartments.
Some $400 million of the
overall sum represents
direct government outlays
for housing construction,
while another $1 billion has
been set aside to guarantee
purchase of these apart-
ments from private contrac-
tors if buyers cannot be
found.
Sharon said Israel will
need 7,000 apartments each
month to meet the demands
of both newcomers and vet-
erans.
Kaplan and Dinitz said
that the agency supports
Sharon's attempt to meet
immediate housing needs by
the large-scale use of prefabs
and by eliminating bu-
reaucratic obstacles through
the use of emergency regula-
tions.
Kaplan said that Sharon is
using his prefab program
"as a lever to get the local
housing industry working.
Another way could be by br-
inging in foreign contrac-
tors. The Israelis need the
competition. The 3,000
prefabs Sharon has ordered
is a signal to the local con-
tractors that they had better
get moving."

❑

Jewish Telegraphic Agency

