We wish our family and friends a
very healthy, happy and prosperous
New Year
THE GOODMANS
RICK, ILENE, SHAYNA, ARIKA & MARA
We wish our family and friends a
very healthy, happy and prosperous
New Year
FRANCES & LEONARD FINK
A Very Happy and Healthy
New Year to All Our Friends
and Family.
Best wishes for a
happy, healthy
New Year.
Best wishes for a
happy, healthy
New Year.
FERN & HERBERT BAKER
MARCEL & SHIRLEY BEHAR
DR. MARC NISSIM, JEROME & LESLIE,
RICHARD DANIEL & USA ESTHER
Best wishes for a
happy, healthy
New Year.
Best wishes for a
happy, healthy
New Year.
KAL & AADA BANDALENE
Ft. Lauderdale, FL
FRANCES BERESH
We wish our family and friends a
very healthy, happy and prosperous
New Year
JEFFREY & KAREN KRAFT
AIMEE, ELISSA & RACHEL
We wish our family and friends a
very healthy, happy and prosperous
New Year
MEL & INEZ KEPES
We wish our family and friends a
very healthy, happy and prosperous
New Year
LAWRENCE & PAMELA HOLZMAN & "THE CATS"
Rockville, MD
We wish our family and friends a
very healthy, happy and prosperous
New Year
KAROL & MARSHALL HERSHON
Boca Raton, FL
To All Our
Relatives
and Friends,
Our wish for a
year filled with
happiness,
health and prosperity.
THE GORBACK FAMILY
Esther, Jack & Joy
Lyn, Les, Danielle & liana
Benj, Seth & Jared
A Very Happy and Healthy
New Year to All Our Friends
and Family.
JUDY, HAROLD, NICOLE, JESSICA
& ALLISON ETKIN
A Very Happy and Healthy
New Year to All Our Friends
and Family.
SAMUEL & MARILYN EINHORN
May the New Year Bring
To All Our Friends
and Family — Health,
Joy, Prosperity
and Everything
Good in Life.
DENISE RICHMAN ALEXANDER
& FAMILY
112
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 1991
To All Our
Relatives
and Friends,
Our wish for a
year filled with
happiness,
health and prosperity.
I ISRAEL Im"'"'"
Lost Owners
Continued from preceding page
to check the properties — they
didn't know who, what or
where."
Mr. Sivin told a joke about
naive Americans buying land
near the Hafia Opera House.
There is no Haifa Opera
House, he said, neither then
nor today.
In many cases, Mr. Sivin
said, Americans were duped.
Most heard about the proper-
ties from agents who were
selling the land. Sometimes
the sales were legitimate,
sometimes the property was a
strip of beach or under water.
The overwhelming number
of legitimate lots were small
and unsuitable for any but
agricultural use. But "rezon-
ing is very complicated and
nearly impossible!' according
to Mr. Sivin.
He estimates that 90 per-
cent of the properties sold
were zoned at the time for
agriculture.
Although the property
prices did not rise as much as
some would have liked, land
is still a precious commodity
in Israel, the lawyer noted.
Demand is high mainly
because of people who want to
utilize the land or speculators
who buy as a hedge.
Soviet olim are having a
small but insignificant im-
pact on the price of land.
The process of proving
ownership is difficult because
the lax old system of registry
"invites crooks!'
A claimant must now sub-
mit a probate will or an order
of succession to prove descen-
dance and get an affidavit
from an Isreli resident citing
that the original owner did in
fact purchase the land.
In early June, the Israeli
Justice Ministry rezoned 50
acres of land in Beer Nabala,
near Jerusalem, for residen-
tial use by several Iraqi Jews.
Those people were descen-
dants of landowners who lost
their records in a 1931
pogrom, Mr. Sivin said, ad-
ding that "it was a 70-year
dream come true."
Mr. Sivin said the same
thing could happen if groups
of American claimants got
together. But so far that is not
happening.
He said most of the land-
owners are found in in-
dividual cases, and that 99
percent of all people who
discover that they own land
sell it within weeks. Usually
the land is bought by farmers
or businesspeople.
If you think you may own
land in Israel, Martin Sivin
can be reached at the Israel
Development Co., 645 Fifth
Avenue (East Wing, Sixth
Floor), New York, New York,
10022 or telephone (212)
371-8532.