Israel Bonds to Initiate Drive to Enroll ‘shomrei Israel’

A campaign to expand the involvement of every Jewish family in active support of Israel through the Israel Bond program will be initiated on Israel’s 26th anniversary, April 25, Sam Rothberg, general chairman of the Israel Bond Organization, announced. The special effort, which will reach its peak in May and June, will concentrate on the enrollment of purchasers of $1000 or more in Israel Bonds as “Shomrei Israel,” or Guardians of Israel.

More than 500 synagogues in various parts of the country have scheduled special events in order to enroll the members of their congregations as Shomrei Israel. The Shomrei Israel drive is the second stage in the unprecedented 1974 campaign for the sale of $1 billion in Reconstruction and Development Bonds of the State of Israel, Rothberg said.

He explained that Israel’s urgent post-war economic needs placed upon the Jews of the United States and Canada the responsibility of supplying the funds for the entire Development Budget which provides for basic economic enterprises. Israel’s Development Budget for the fiscal year beginning April 1 amounts to $1.07 billion as compared with $642 million for the previous year. The Shomrei Israel campaign, according to Rothberg, will seek to achieve a quota of 250,000 families, each purchasing a minimum of $1000.

Menachem Beigin, a member of Israel’s Knesset and a leader of the Likud, will be the principal speaker at a reception celebrating Israel’s 26th anniversary on April 27 at the Waldorf-Astoria, The reception is sponsored by the Greater New York Committee, State of Israel Bonds, of which Samuel Neaman is chairman.