Explorations of peace with Egypt
On March 10, 1952, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, British General William Edward Riley, submitted a proposal to convene the Israeli-Egyptian Armistice Committee to discuss a list of common issues.
Riley's announcement was made against the background of rumors, as early as the beginning of 1952, regarding attempts to bring Israel and Egypt closer together.
The political correspondent of the newspaper "Davar" in Washington reported that "in the circles of the US State Department there is widespread information that Arab countries are now ready to act to alleviate the tensions between them and Israel."
In a speech to the nation on March 10, US President Harry Truman urged the US Congress to accept without delay or cuts the new global economic aid program, including in the list of countries that may benefit Israel and Arab countries, "If there is a rapprochement between them that will allow joint economic projects With American funding, for the benefit of the residents of the area. "
In addition, Truman announced that the United States would advance a solution to the problem of Arab refugees by settling in the Sinai Peninsula near the Gaza Strip, and reported that American research groups were working in Sinai to prove feasibility of the project, and that the Egyptian government had already relied on it.
"Now, three years after the end of the war between us, we must regulate our relations with Israel and enjoy the many benefits that such an opportunity entails," read the editorial column of the popular Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram.
The surprising article did not provoke significant opposition among the Egyptian public as well as among other Arab countries.
Despite high expectations, Egypt did not finally respond to the proposal to convene the Supreme Israeli-Egyptian Committee.
Its head, King Farouk, was at that time in talks to end the British Mandate in Egypt and in his country's conflict with Sudan.
A few months later, on July 23, 1952, the "Free Officers Revolution" took place in Egypt, which ousted Farouk, and Egypt focused on burning internal issues - of which peace with Israel was not one.
"Road accidents in the country have become a scourge of the state"
Poster for the prevention of accidents, 1952, Photo: Design: EK, courtesy of the Zionist Archive
At a cabinet meeting held on March 10, 1952, Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion expressed his great concern at the large number of casualties in road accidents across the country.
"There is not a morning when I open the newspapers and do not expect at least one news item about a car accident," the prime minister said in a shout.
"The number of injured and killed in accidents in the country is growing. On the one hand we are fighting for every soul and every new immigrant, and on the other hand the transportation failures in our country detract from the population and make laborers and manufacturers disabled and disabled, falling on the poor state's many needs."
Transport Minister David Zvi Pinkas reminded ministers that he "has been in office for less than six months" and shifted the burden of blame to Police Minister Bechor Shalom Sheetrit, claiming that "the number of police officers in the country today stands at one-fifth their number during the British Mandate."
Sheetrit, for his part, shifted the blame back to the prime minister, arguing that "if my offices had been budgeted properly, we could have added many traffic cops," and so on.
Less than a month after the cabinet meeting, the Ministry of Transportation launched a "national program to eradicate road accidents", which included, among other things, strengthening the study of road safety in schools, significantly improving the level of driving lessons, opening many driving classes around the country, closely supervising driving examiners. To improve the level of driving in the IDF, and more.
Special attention was given by the Ministry of Transportation to create a uniform standard for the warning signs on the roads, which until then had been characterized by a lack of uniformity - both in the shape of the sign and in the signs and colors on it.
Some of the direction and warning signs remained in shape from the days of the British Mandate, and since they were not updated after the establishment of the state, created public confusion and caused more than one road accident.
Minister Pinkas pushed with all his might to complete the preparation of the road accident prevention plan by July 31, 1952, but unfortunately, he did not get to see it materialized: two weeks later he died of a heart attack, at the age of 56.
How much does "talent" earn?
Habima actors Segal, Rudansky and Atzmon (3 Shmuliks), Photo: Boris Carmi, Meter Archive
Purim 1952 took place exactly today 70 years ago, and in honor of the holiday, the "Cattle" newspaper prepared a comprehensive review of the salaries of theater actors who dress up and put on make-up all year round - because in those days, before television entered the country, they were considered real celebs.
The results of the review surprised many readers, who imagined the stage stars living in wealth, as the reality was completely different: the average salary of prominent theater actors was £ 100 a month, a salary that did not far exceed the salary of a senior official in those days.
At the Ohel Theater, which was a cooperative, the salary was not determined by the importance of the roles on stage or the degree of talent of the actors, and the basic salary of the last extras was the same as the theater's big star salary, which viewers came to watch.
The difference in salary between the players is expressed only according to years of seniority and marital status.
The salary of the best and most famous of the actresses of the Cameri Theater (Hannah Maron) did not exceed 100 pounds per month, and so was the salary of the four leading stars in the cast of the Habima Theater.
It is important to remember that in those days participating in a "gig" outside the theater was considered an insult to a serious actor, thus creating a situation where only lucky actors who married each other - managed to extract two salaries that could earn them a decent living.
The fishermen were thrown in jail
Fishermen from Kibbutz Hulata, 1950, Photo: Courtesy of the Zionist Archive
Law enforcement on the citizen in the early days of the state was strict and uncompromising, as can be learned from the case of a fishing group called the "network", which operated as a cooperative on the Hula stage, near Kibbutz Hulata, and its fishing license was revoked.
The members of the group did not agree to stop the fishing work and argued before the inspectors that a matter was being investigated in the offices of the Jewish National Fund in Jerusalem.
In mid-March 1952, inspectors arrived at the sick day, in the middle of the night, and surprised the fishermen with their work.
The police who were called to the scene arrested the fishermen, confiscated their equipment and sent them to detention in Safed.
The next morning, the rebellious fishermen appeared before a judge, who sent them all to a month in jail for unlicensed fishing.
Thank you, thank you, thank you
A notice published on March 9, 1952, entitled "Feelings of Gratitude," read as follows: Who spared no effort and knew no rest from the time the cash register was stolen by thugs last Monday, until they managed to find the cash register with the money in full, over £ 5,000. "Come up and succeed! Your actions and deeds have brought honor to the police and the people of Israel."
Destruction of evidence - in vain
In mid-March 1952, the economic police officers entered the house of the merchant Zakaria Landau, at 51 Kishon Street in Tel Aviv, and did not find him at home.
His wife hurried to the closet, pulled out a notebook and ripped one of the pages from it.
The woman was prosecuted for destroying a document that could have been used as evidence, and was sentenced to a fine of £ 20 - the weekly salary of a clerk at the time.
In retrospect, it turned out that no guilt was found in the activities of the merchant Landau, nor did the page from the account book destroyed by the wife contain any convicting material against her husband.
The missing / hospitals that were
Ein Gedi
Source: Wikipedia,
The Ein Gedi Hospital building at 10 Maza Street in Tel Aviv was built in 1922 as a residence for the Bersky family, and was designed by the architect Yehuda Magidovich. As the "Citrus for the Elderly" geriatric hospital.
The building finally returned to its original purpose, and is now used as a residence.
The grocery store / items since
Saban Stars Diary
Photo: Nostalgia Online Archive,
The "Seven Stars" (seven stars) was an "elaborate" diary used by the "snobs" of those days.
He was ten times more expensive than a regular skilled man, and belonged to the upper class.
The user of the log used to purchase a fancy leather case, into which the pages of the log were inserted along with the sheets of cardboard partitions, and with all sorts of tiny pieces of general information that the user had never used.
Thus, every year the pages of the incoming year would be repurchased.
Automation in the citrus industry
Photo: "Scleretz-Golani" collection, "Beitmona" archive,
In mid-March 1952, orchards from all over the country were invited to a seminar on the streets, during which they were introduced to innovations in the field, headed by the first mechanized packing house in the country.
The packers of the orange boxes, who until now had to do their work while sitting on the ground, will now be able to sit on a chair and treat the oranges on a moving tape.
On the day of the seminar, another new machine was introduced, which can assemble packing boxes automatically, at a rate of 3,000 per day, thus saving carpenters hard and tedious manual work.
In the photo: a mechanized packing house in the orchards of the Sharon, late 1950s.
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Do you have pictures or souvenirs from the first days of the country? Write to us: Yor@ShimurIsrael.Org
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