Israel into a regional alliance?
In mid-October 1951, as part of initial contacts for the establishment of the "Middle East Command" against the spread of communism in the region, representatives of the superpowers arrived in Israel and met in the Tel Aviv Kiryat with Foreign Ministry Director Walter Eitan. And promised to "report again in the near future."
Egypt announced its refusal to participate in the alliance, and its announcement was joined by several Arab countries.
They argued that "those who invite us to join the Alliance in thwarting Russian influence in the region will do well to refrain from supporting the Zionist state, which forces us to focus our efforts against the danger from Israel, instead of investing in raising the standard of living in Arab countries." ".
At the beginning of November 1951, the representatives of the superpowers sought to clarify with Israel its position regarding the establishment of the proposed regional defense alliance.
A letter sent to the Foreign Ministry stated that "after Egypt's refusal, the powers are not currently interested in cooperating with the union's armies, but seek to use the air bases (also of Israel) for the defensive needs of the West."
This news shocked fans of Russia and Communism in Israel - the United Workers' Party (Mapam) and the Israeli Communist Party (MKI) - who went to demonstrations and rallies and produced posters against the idea of "establishing an alliance against the so-called communist vision, when the truth is the desire of imperialist intentions. Western countries, with America at the forefront. "
In January 1953, Republican Dwight Eisenhower was elected President of the United States, and John Foster Dulles (Hawk of the USSR) was appointed Secretary of State.
In May 1953, Dallas visited the Middle East with the intention of examining the feasibility of establishing a Middle East command, and during the trip he also visited Israel.
On his return to Washington he announced the failure of the campaign and the rejection of the idea of establishing command.
In the years that followed, Foster and Eisenhower focused on shaping the "Cold War era" against the USSR.
"Missing foreign currency for sending students abroad"
A rented EL AL plane on its way to fly 90 Israeli students to London, 1951, Photo: GPO
Immediately after the establishment of the state, the Science and Development Division was established in the Prime Minister's Office, recognizing that Israel will need an additional 10,000 graduate students in various fields each year, "in order to maintain the cultural level and meet technological development needs," said Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion. 1948.
A report produced by the Science and Development Department in early November 1951 revealed that Israel did not meet the important task of expanding the academic graduate sector as required, and in the past year only 5,500 students were added to the alumni class - 3,000 graduates in Israel and 1,500 Israeli students in high schools. "To.
"Most of the Israeli students who studied abroad studied in various engineering and technological fields, a matter in which the government saw first and foremost importance. To.
However, in a report published in early November 1951, it became clear that "for the coming school year the government will not be able to approve the registration of new students abroad - as the hard currency dripping in our coffers has dried up," as the joint committee of the Ministry of Education, Finance and Government defined. , Which dealt with the promotion of Israeli studies abroad.
The chairman reported that the government would organize a currency allocation for the next school year, "but we will make sure to include in the currency allocations only students who will study issues important to the country and its development."
The Tel Aviv Derby, 1951
"Bassa" field in Jaffa, on the ruins of which Bloomfield Stadium was built, Photo: Courtesy of Shmulik Tagar, Eilat / VTLV
This coming Sunday, Hapoel Tel Aviv and Maccabi Tel Aviv will play their 194th derby match between them since the establishment of the state (league and cup).
It is doubtful that any of the players today know about the game played by both teams on November 6, 1951, exactly 70 years ago, in which Hapoel defeated Maccabi 0: 2 after a long chain of losses in the municipal derby.
The game was held at the "Basa" field in Jaffa, so named because in the rain there was a large swamp in the area (Basa, in Arabic).
Bloomfield Stadium was later built on the ruins of the field.
The day after the intriguing game, the Hebrew press wrote: "About 7,000 spectators (spectators; DS) had a rich sports experience, when in the 60th minute a Hapoel player picked up a ball to Danny Yelovsky, and it hit the ball into the goal with the power of a cannon.
The Maccabi Bandori goalkeeper only managed to flick the ball with his hand, which bounced towards the crossbar and landed at the goal. "
Less than 60 seconds passed, and "a ball was sent from the middle of the field with the precision of an engineer to the Maccabi stadium, and from there Yelovsky swung a leg and sent a more accurate bomb to the Maccabi goal than the 'Davidka' mortar.
The scorching loss did not prevent Maccabi Tel Aviv players from finishing in first place at the end of the 1952-1951 season, while Hapoel settled for fifth place (and the honorable itself) in the table.
Due to prison congestion: Dozens of prisoners released
Due to lack of space in the prisons, the Minister of Police, Bechor Sheetrit, ordered the wholesale release of dozens of prisoners before the end of the imprisonment period imposed on them.
On November 4, 1951, 61 prisoners were released from prisons in Jaffa, Haifa and Beit She'an.
"We will continue with the early release of prisoners as long as the situation in which they sit in prison as in a box of sardines does not improve," the minister explained at a government hearing.
"In the Jaffa prison, which is designed for 235 prisoners, 400 are imprisoned; in Haifa, 125 prisoners are crammed on an area designated for 100; and in Beit She'an, there are twice as many prisoners as the standard - 70 instead of 35."
More inspectors will be recruited to fight the black market
The Minister of Trade and Industry, Dov Yosef, announced in early November 1951 that he intended to "fight the black market in every way possible."
He demanded that 900 inspectors be recruited "to tour the markets, visit shops and set up roadblocks all over the country - to inspect passengers' belongings."
Yosef also announced a "national operation to establish a volunteer force to fight corruption", in which 10,000 citizens will be asked to "report to law enforcement's any violation of austerity policies: a store that expropriated a price, a speculator who sold 'under the table', a speculator who keeps inventory. Be careful, before they inject our dose of poison into our arteries. "
War poster in the black market 1951, Photo: Courtesy of the National Library
Won the lottery prize - abroad
On November 1, 1951, news arrived from faraway Venezuela about a former Israeli who had won the lottery there, for a huge sum of a quarter of a million dollars.
In an interview with him in a local newspaper, where he was identified as R.M., the happy winner said that he is originally from Holon, and that he has lived in Venezuela for 13 years, where he has experienced all kinds of livelihoods.
He reported that he now intends to "fly to visit Israel, meet my family members and look for interesting investments."
The missing / professions that were
Orange packs
Photo: Yehudit Ginat, courtesy of the National Library,
A seasonal profession for the citrus harvesting period, which began every year in November and lasted a few months.
The work was carried out sitting on the ground, and in the process of preparing the fruit crates for export, "sorters" acted, supervising the quality of the fruit, "wrappers," on whose knees lay a pile of delicate orange leaves for wrapping the orange, and "packs" - required the highest skill and carefully placed The produce in the box, so that no orange will be crushed, God forbid, when transported abroad.
The grocery / grooming of yesteryear
"Clear 7" soap
Photo: Nostalgia Online Archive,
Even today you can still buy the old soap in the form of a solid or liquid with plenty of scents and textures, but the nostalgic uniqueness of this soap - whose number 7 in its name represents its acidity level (PH) - was around 1952, when it was manufactured and marketed by Neka (founded In Israel in 1938), it is considered the first Israeli soap to offer a velvety texture of a quality that until then could only be found in imported soaps such as Palmolive.
Success for the Israeli beer industry
Photo: Courtesy of the Netanya Museum,
In November 1951, an investor named Louis Herzberg toured the country, who was impressed by the large sand area south of Netanya and purchased dozens of dunams, on which he established several factories in the field of beverages and also a large cold store.
In 1953, the first beverage from the factories' market was marketed, a beer called "Abir", which was also exported a year later. Owned by Tempo Photo: Netanya Mayor Ben Ami and Herzberg, at the cornerstone laying ceremony for the beverage factories, 1952.
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