Revolution in the IDF: Wages are rising
In mid-March 1952, the IDF announced an upward update of the salaries of single men and women soldiers: the monthly salary of a single private increased from 12 pounds to 16, and for a married person with one child - the salary jumped to 36 pounds. The salary increased by 6 pounds. A single sergeant will now receive 38 pounds, and if he is married and has one child - his monthly salary will reach 58 pounds. For each additional child he will receive an additional 9 pounds. , From £ 68 per deputy married with one child to £ 122 per month for a champion married with one child.
"The salary increase was determined according to the needs of the army," said the chief of staff, Major General Yigal Yadin, adding that "by doing so, we want to encourage the soldier to marry and increase his family, ascend the ladder and see his military service as a source of livelihood for him and his family."
In addition, support was provided for the families of soldiers serving in the army.
Thus, for example, a soldier's wife will be entitled to a pension of ten pounds a month, whether she works or not, and the soldier's parents, if they are deprived of income and have no supportive sons, will receive monthly support of 32.5 pounds, provided the father is over 60 and the mother is over 50.
There was also a one-time grant of 25 pounds for each male and female soldier, and if a male and female soldier married to each other - they would receive a 75-pound grant.
A soldier's wife will receive a birth grant of 50 pounds, and the soldiers' families will enjoy free health insurance at one of the HMOs recognized by the IDF.
Their payments were entitled to a soldier and his family being transferred in cash once a month, during the monthly visits of the military veterans to IDF camps all over the country.
The aid of goods from America "just" the port of Haifa
Delivery is delayed at the port of Haifa.
1952, Photo: Hirschbein Collection, "Beitmona" Archive
In February 1952, the US Congress passed a resolution to provide Israel with a package of basic human and animal foodstuffs, and raw materials for the Israeli food industry.
The decision was implemented immediately, and for about a month now ships have been arriving in Haifa at an increasing rate, until in mid-March 1952 the port was completely closed.
During the past month, about 100,000 tons of basic foodstuffs were unloaded: 60,000 tons of wheat and flour, 20,000 tons of soybeans for the food oils industry (used after animal oil extraction), 10,000 tons of sugar, 10,000 tons of dura and other grains, 1,000 tons of milk powder, 300 tons of egg powder and 500 tons of yeast for the bread industry.
The ships waiting to be unloaded have another 5,000 tons of sugar and 20,000 tons of wheat, and it is reported that more food ships are making their way to Israel.
It is estimated that the large shipments will ensure Israel supplies bread, sugar and oils to industry for a period of 5-3 months.
In those days, Dagon silos in the port of Haifa were in the early stages of construction (they were inaugurated in 1955), so the port management focused on transferring the sacks of wheat to the flour stations as soon as they were unloaded.
Despite this, huge piles of sacks piled up on the docks, alongside large loads of citrus boxes waiting to be loaded onto ships on their way to Europe.
At the piles of detained orange crates on the docks, the citrus council secretary, Joshua Binyamini, announced that "food ships are rushing to the port, and all the manpower in the port is assigned to unload them, but the oranges in the crates may rot soon!" In the collapse of the orchard industry in Israel, and in harming the livelihoods of thousands of families! "
The port management, in cooperation with the Histadrut, has declared an emergency operation for the immediate recruitment of 60 additional unloading and loading workers, in order to overcome the huge congestion at the port.
Starting to look for oil
Tel a-Safi Drilling in the South, 1954, Photo: Hirschbein Collection, "Beitmona" Archive
"Israel is entering the era of oil exploration" - this is what businessman Kasil (Yekutiel) Federman announced at a press conference in Tel Aviv on March 17, 1952, a day after returning from a business trip in the US and Switzerland, where he worked to raise the capital needed to establish oil exploration infrastructure. In Israel, "the cost of the infrastructure is estimated at millions of dollars, and its results will only be seen in two or three years," he clarified.
At that time, Federman, a native of Germany who immigrated in 1940 and settled in Haifa, was a well-known figure in the business world of young Israel.
In 1945, he and his brother, Shmuel, bought a small boarding house on Hayarkon Street in Tel Aviv called "Kata Dan," and built the magnificent Dan Hotel on its ruins, which launched the well-known hotel chain that still operates today.
Speaking at the press conference, Federman stressed the importance of the "Oil Law" enacted in those days, emphasizing that "this law came to correct a strange situation in which although almost four years have passed since the establishment of the state, not all concessions handed over to British drilling companies." British Petroleum Company. "
The law was finally approved by the Knesset in early September 1952, and as Federman predicted, three years later, in September 1955, an oil jet burst for the first time (and last so far) at a drilling site in the south of the country called "Heletz" (Hulikat).
The company also partnered with a company called "Oil Seekers in Israel", owned by Federman and Solel Boneh.
Federman himself has over the years initiated many other businesses, which together have joined a large economic empire.
He died in 2002, at the age of 87.
Happy Purim at Lod Port
Lod Airport, 1952, Photo: Samur Katkoff, GPO
Dozens of Israeli stage artists "occupied" the departure hall at Lod Airport at midnight on March 14, 1952, and held a cheerful Purim party as a farewell to their friend composer Shmuel Freshko, who was about to fly to try his luck in the United States. Haim Hefer, including "Gentlemen History Returns," "Bab al-Wad," "Hey Jeep," and "Moti Moti." And so did porters.When the well-known tenor singer Avraham Wilkomirsky gave his voice in the song, all the guests of the hotel that once housed the Netivot Woke up, and most of them joined in the celebration.
Bread - only from one bakery
On March 16, 1952, the Superintendent of Foods at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry sent an order to dozens of grocery stores in Tel Aviv, stating that they were selected to participate in an experiment in which each grocery store would be associated with only one bread bakery.
The order also stipulated for each grocery store owner with which bakery he should call to get the bread.
The reason for the experiment was related to the authorities' desire to increase the control of bakeries in everything related to the quality of bread, distribution times and the quantity distributed to stores from each bakery and bakery.
Enough for cigarettes in the theater
On March 16, 1952, a statement was issued by the managements of all the theaters in Tel Aviv, which the Maariv cultural correspondent described as follows: "A strange and bad custom has taken root among our theatergoers. "The lighting of the match in the dark hall damages the contact between the stage and the hall, and the attention of many of the actors is diverted when dozens of points of light from the cigarette fire shine in front of them in the hall, as if they were cat eyes in the dark.
The missing / license plates and identification marks
Stripe and line numbers
Photo: Nostalgia Online Archive,
In the early years of the state the vehicles were marked with different marks and colors, in addition to the number.
A white demarcation line was added to the license plates of a vehicle that was exempt from paying taxes (disabled or new immigrants).
Government vehicles and government companies had numbers with a blue background and white lettering.
In rented vehicles, a green-and-white striped demarcation line was attached to the license plates, and vehicles used for public transportation had a green license plate with the letter "T" followed by four digits.
The grocery store / items from the past
folding table
Photo: Nostalgia Online Archive,
A folding table was a common accessory in almost every apartment, and was created by a company called "Eng".
The table would be pulled out at family events such as Passover Seder and parties, or when the parents' friends would come to the weekly card game.
The table could be taken out to the yard or garden, and even tied to the roof of the car and taken for a picnic in nature.
The compilers also used it as a mobile stand for selling objects and a variety of products.
Just before Pesach: Crisis in food packages
On March 12, 1952, Hamashbir Latzerhan immediately rescinded the agreement it had with the American company Script - under which Hamashbir stores nationwide provided food parcels supplied to families in Israel by relatives living in America.
The announcement, just a month before Passover, left many Israelis worried, without their food package waiting for the holiday.
A solution was soon found: private organizations entered the picture, taking care to create a stock of goods in advance, and these announced that they would honor the gift vouchers from America - instead of Hamashbir.
In the photo: an announcement about the arrival of food packages in Israel.
Ads that were
Do you have pictures or souvenirs from the first days of the country? Write to us: Yor@ShimurIsrael.Org
Were we wrong?
Fixed!
If you found an error in the article, we'll be happy for you to share it with us