Israel, 1954

ISRAEL 1 4

The development of a modern state hingesTp *'%re^t,,e^e^ cHt'il^'^
communications. Up-to-date transportation and^tfel€-'6oa3!);jgjipififf^
are essential for the efficient and rapid functioning of economy and
administration. And sea and air communications are a pre-reqnisite
for sound commerical and political contacts with the world.

Accordingly, the Israel Government has laid special stress upon
the development of its communications, and a large part of the
annual development budget has been allocated for the purchase of
new equipment and the expansion of transport and tele-communi-
cations.

Vorts

Situated on the eastern Mediterranean seaboard with hostile
Arab states to the north, east and south, Israel depends entirely
upon the sea for trade and overseas communications. The develop-
ment of the country's harbor facilities was therefore a major
concern of the Government from the very beginning, and expansion
in this field has been both considerable and swift.

In 1953, Israel's ports handled a total of 1,500,000 tons of
cargo; in 1949 the figure was 1,294,000 tons. Purchase of new equip-
ment, new port construction, increased storage facilities, mechan-
ization and greater organizational efficiency were the principal goals
of the port expansion program.

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Haifa Port

The greatest progress was made in Haifa, Israel's main harbor
and one of the largest and best-equipped ports of the eastern Medi-
terranean. New equipment here included a number of huge cranes,
among them a giant floating crane, the largest in the Middle East,
weigh-bridges, cargo trollies, tractors and forklift trucks able to
facilitate speedy and efficient handling.

To cope with increased tonnage, additional storage sheds were
erected, and the internal road and railway network extended.
The quays had been rebuilt, and the extension of the main quay
to provide berthing facilities for two additional ships has just
been completed. Space has also been added for the mooring of
harbor craft to increase the volume of lighterage work at any one
tiipe.

Work was started on a large grain elevator with a 29,000 ton
capacity and the construction of a modern passenger terminal has
already passed the blueprint stage.

By the end of 1954, Haifa port's cargo-handling capacity will
have been increased to one and a half million tons a year.

Ports of Tel Aviv and Jaffa

Israel's other two main ports, Tel Aviv and Jaffa, have a com-
bined capacity of 400,000 tons a year. In both ports, ships loading
and discharging lie in open roadsteads, with the cargo carried be-
tween ship and shore in lighters. Capacity is being stepped vip to
500,000 tons annually by the introduction of new equipment and
the enlargement of storage facilities.

Kishon Development Scheme

The Kishon Development Department was set up in March
1951, to plan additional port facilities near Haifa harbor. An
auxiliary port is now under construction at the mouth of the Kishon
river where a canal to take vessels up to 3,000 tons draught is being
constructed. The development area is some three kilometres in
length and will be equipped with modern warehouses, factories,
and possibly a graving dock. Work on the Kishon development
project began in June, 1951. The first stage was completed early
in 1954, and the first ship to use the new facilities registered in
the anchorage book in March, 1954. Certain areas earmarked for
a free zone, cargo handling and factory sites were offered fqr

2

Israel fruit carrier in Haifa port

immediate development and the first leases have already been taken
up.

Elat

Elat, Israel's southernmost outpost on the shores of the Red
Sea at the head of the Gulf of Akaba, is currently equipped with
a provisional jetty. Described as Israel's "window to the East,"
Elat has already received a number of ships bringing cargoes from
Aden, Abyssinia, East Africa and the Sudan. Plans now being pre-
pared called for the construction of a larger jetty to handle goods
from East Africa and the Orient. The port is destined also to become
the export outlet for minerals mined in the southern Negev.

Shipping

Israel-owned shipping was practically non-existent in 1948. The
entire fleet then consisted of one passenger vessel in a poor state of

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repair, four small coastal freighters and a number of obsolete ves-
sels used for the transportation of "illegal immigrants" running the
British blockade.

The total gross tonnage of this "fleet" in May, 1948 was 6,000
tons. Today, the Israel merchant fleet includes 31 vessels, sharing
a total tonnage of 120,000 tons gross. The merchant fleet numbers
three passenger steamers, including the newly-acquired SS. Jerus-
lem, which has a displacement of over 15,000 tons, and 28 freighters,
including five fruit-carriers.

Since the establishment of the State 70% of all passengers
arriving by sea were carried in Israel vessels; about 55% were new
immigrants.

To meet the growing need for crews, special training courses
in seamanship were held for ships' masters, mates, engineers and
marine radio operators. Thus the increase in shipping was accom-
panied by an equal increase in personnel, from some 100 officers and
sailors in 1948 to 1,200 today. Israel still suffers from a shortage of
trained marine engineers, but it is hoped that this will be overcome
shortly by a special scheme for local training.

The Israel flag is now carried by Israel vessels to most parts
of the world. Regular passenger and cargo routes are run to Cyprus,
France, Italy and Turkey in the Mediterranean, to Dutch, Belgian
and British ports in the north, and to the East Coast of the United
States and Canada, as well as a cargo run to West Africa.

Progress during the past six years has ensured Israel a firm
place among seafaring nations. Israel ranks as the second maritime
power among Middle Eastern States.

Aviation

With the liquidation of the Mandatory Government, the founda-
tions of civil aviation in existence by April, 1948 were destroyed.
The central base of civil aviation — the Lod (Lydda) Airport — was
surrendered by the Mandatory Government to Arab forces, and the
international air companies discontinued their operation.

Israel, attacked on the day of its birth, was forced to operate
an improvised air service on scratch landing fields through the first
weeks of its existence.

Airfields

Lod Airport was reopened shortly after its liberation by the
Israel Army (July, 1948) and extensive development work was car-

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lied out at once. Old equipment was renovated, new equipment in-
stalled. The main runway was extended to a total length of 2,400
metres, rendering it suitable for all types of modern aircraft, includ-
ig jet passenger planes. The airport is now in the International ' B
class, ranking with London, Parish and Zurich. Equipment now being
installed includes modern electronic navigational and approach aids,
further ensuring the safe use of the field under all conditions.

Lod is now used by 10 international airlines which together
operate 15 different routes to or through the airport to all parts of
the world. In 1953 1,568 planes of international air carriers entered
the airfield carrying 60,517 passengers. Cargo handled rose from
458,633 kilos in 1949 to 1,633,550 kilos in 1953, while airmail han-
dled rose from 129,675 kilos to 244,463 kilos.

A modern aircraft overhaul base is being completed at Lod
and will start operations in 1954. At this base major maintenance and
overhaul of local planes, and eventually of foreign aircraft, will be
carried out.

The Haifa airfield is used by Cyprus Airways on its international
service and by the "Chini-Avir" Company, which aerially sprays and
dusts Israel's crops and trees. Plans for resiting and development
of the Haifa field are being discussed.

The "Dov" airfield in Tel Aviv is used mainly for inland traffic
and is the headquarters of the Israel Aero Club's flying school. The
Club also uses the field for gliding instruction.

The Elat field is used for regular daily service between Lod and
other local airfields.

El-Al

As was mentioned, at the outbreak of war in 1948, Israel was
abandoned l)y virtually all major international air lines previously
operating in Palestine. The new State was cut off from the rest
of the world.

Accordingly, one of the first acts of the Provisional Government
was the establishment of an Israel air line. El-Al was founded.
The air line developed so well that it now handles a substantial
part of the air traffic to and from the country. The company is
financed and controlled by the Government, the Jewish Agency, the
General Federation of Labor (Histadrut) and the Zim Israel Navi-
gation Company.

In the past four years El-Al established a network of routes
to four continents — Asia, Europe, North America and Africa —

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El-Al Constellation at Lydda Airport

reaching London, Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, Zurich, Vienna, Rome,
Athens, Johannesl)urg, New York, Nicosia and Istanbul. It main-
tains its own repair shops at Lod and operates its own fleet of
passenger transport vehicles.

Local internal air services are operated by Arkia, a company
established in 1950 mainly for the carriage of passengers and freight
to Elat. Recently it started regular services between Lod, Haifa,
Tel-Aviv, Galilee and Beersheba, and it will ultimately maintain
air communications with Jerusalem, thus linking all parts of Israel.

Air agreements providing reciprocal rights were signed with
the United States, Turkey, the Netherlands, Great Britain, the Phil-
ippines, France, Switzerland and Belgium, and El-Al reached inter-
airline agreements with most of the foreign airlines using Israel as
a terminal or transit station.

For air traffic safety Radio Beacons were installed and Very
High Frequency (VOR) stations are used in various parts of the

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country thus providing electonic guidance to incoming and out-
going aircraft engaged on international flights to Africa, the Indian
Ocean and the Far East.

Training and Licensing

Training of aviation personnel — air and ground crews, navi-
gators, engineers — progressed rapidly under the supervision of the
Department of Civil Aviation, of the Ministry of Communications,
with the cooperation of International Civil Aviation Organiza-
tion (I.C.A.O. ) experts. Officials of the Department of Civil Aviation,
helonging to the Technical Services of Lod Airport, were sent
ahroad on fellowships under that organization's training scheme.

The Department of Civil Aviation is the examining and li-
censing authority for aviation personnel and the air worthiness
authority for aircraft and aeronautical equipment.

Road Construction

Israel's road system expanded when new construction and a
fine system of repair, maintenance and improvement was inaug-
urated. In six years, 543 kilometres of new and reconstructed high-
ways and 303 kilometres of feeder roads to agricultural settlements
were built, and 931 kilometres widened and improved. This work
included the construction of hundreds of bridges and culverts, and
the blasting of hundreds of thousands of tons of rock. This entailed
major engineering feats through rugged mountainous terrain. The
main roads completed dining these years include:

1. Road of Valour, linking Jerusalem to the Coastal Plain.

2. Tel-Aviv-Herzlia-Nathanya coastal road, shortening the dis-
tance to Haifa and serving scores of villages.

3. Faluja-Beersheba road, forming the southern section of the
main north-south trunk line and bringing Beersheba to
within less than two hours travel from Tel-Aviv and opening
thousands of acres for development.

4. Beersheba-Sdom road, opened in March, 1953. The con-
struction of this road was vital for the resumption of the
operations of the Dead Sea potash works. The construction of
the Kurnub-Sdom section of the Beersheba-Dead Sea Road,
which crosses mountainous country and drops from its high-
est point at Kurnub, 423 metres (1,387 feet) above sea level,

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to the shores of the Dead Sea, 392 metres (1,286 feet) below
sea level is the lowest point on the earth's surface, represented
an amazing engineering feat.

5. Kadesh-Ramim-Misgav Am road, parallel to the Lebanese
border in the north.

6. Parallel all-weather road linking Jerusalem with the coastal
plain.

7. Bnei Braq-Yazur, central section of north-south trunk road
and Tel-Aviv bypass road which links up with the coastal
road in the south.

8. Mamshit (Kurnub) -Phosphate fields, development road
linking the Beersheba-Kurnub-Sdom road to the phosphate
quarries and processing plant and to the kaolin quarries in
the Mahtesh Hagadol (Great Crater).

9. Beersheba-Nabatim-Mamshit (Kurnub) Road, first section of
the main road link between Beersheba and Kurnub. It will
shorten the distance to the Potash Works, phospate fields and
other mineral workings in the Southern Negev by 11 kilo-
metres and improved gradients.

The road to Sdom

Important road building projects now under construction in-
clude :

1. Beersheba-Nabatim-Mamshit (Kurnub) Road, construction of
second section (first section, see above) .

2. Safiab-Beit Hagedi, completion of the agricultural develop-
ment road in tbe Northern Negev.

3. Beersbeba-Tel Yeruchani-Sde Boker-Abda-Wadi Ramon-Elat
road, passes through the center of the Negev instead of along
the border, like the old Wadi-Araba road to Elat. The part of
the road running through the wild and mountainous area of
Wadi Ramon required exceptional engineering skill and
considerable use of blasting explosives. At Independence
Heights, on the walls of Wadi Ramon, the road rises to 3,000
feet and falls rapidly thereafter to sea-level at Elat. The
road is partly asphalted and partly built of kaolin foimd
in the area. The road will be opened to general use in
May, 1954.

Road Transportation

Road transportation has always been Israel's mainstay for the
movement of passengers and goods, and, in 1953, the transport services
expanded radically to meet the needs of a growing population, devel-
oping industry and new settlements in hitherto undeveloped areas.

Bus Transport

Passenger bus transport is maintained mainly l)y three bus
cooperatives, tbe largest of which covers interurban traffic together
with Haifa and district, the others the Jerusalem and Tel Aviv
districts, respectively. During 1953, the bus cooperatives received
75 new Chausson buses from France, of which 40 were specially
designed for local city traffic providing a minimum number of
seats and a maximum amount of standing room in order to cope
with rush hour traffic. Another 90 large Leyland buses were ordered
in Britain and will arrive during the first part of 1954. They replace
smaller, obsolete buses. Despite these additions, it is estimated that
a further 500 buses are needed to meet the needs of efficient pas-
senger transportation services.

Bus services between the major cities are complemented by
interurban taxi services running on regular schedules. About 500
of the total 2,271 licensed taxis in the country operate on such
interurban runs.

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Continued increase in the number of vehicles registered (ex-
cluding motorcycles and ambulances) is shown in the following table:

1951

1952

1953

Private Cars

10,541

11,779

12,745

Taxis

1,521

1,984

2,271

Buses

1,505

1,677

1,741

Commercial Vehicles

14,769

16,122

17,139

Railways

Only a few sections of the Mandatory railway system remained
within the area of Israel when the State was established. Their total
length was less than a quarter that of the Palestine Railways, and
there was no rail communication between the three main cities.
Even the small amount of track left within Israel was in a bad
state of repair, with many culverts and bridges destroyed or dam-
aged in the fighting, and many lines unusable without extensive
repairs.

The railway rolling stock left behind was mostly life expired
and had not been properly taken care of during the years preceding
the termination of the Mandate.

Of some 7,000 railway employees during the Mandate regime,
only 6 percent were Jews, and these continued to work with the
Israel Railways. Most of them were fitters and clerical employees,
and there were almost no employees trained in specific railway
trades, such as engine drivers, platelayers, shunters, etc.

Repair work and new construction began immediately and
traffic was resumed on certain sections within a few months.

In August, 1949, the first train reached Jerusalem from Tel
Aviv, and that year the Haifa-Tel Aviv, and Haifa-Jerusalem lines
reopened for regular freight haulage, while the Haifa-Tel Aviv line
reopened for passenger services. The latter line was shortened by
the laying of new sections, including one skirting a salient on the
Jordan frontier, by-passing a section which previously passed through
enemy-held territory.

In Haifa port extension lines were laid in the new cargo jetty,
while new sidings were laid in Sarafand. Extensive railway work-
shops were reopened for the construction and maintenance of passen-
ger and goods waggons and for the overhaul, repair and rebuilding of
locomotives, coaches and freight cars. Three new diesel locomotives

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and track construction and maintenance machinery were put into
service. This resulted in marked improvement of service and con-
siderable saving of money. 215 waggons, 100 box cars and 100 open
waggons, each 25 tons, and 15 flat waggons of 50 tons were purchased
abroad during 1953 and assembled in the Kishon Railway Work-
shops.

Over 500 transportation employees, 1,000 skilled workers and
144 engine crews were trained. A railway training school fitted with
modern equipment and appliances opened at Haifa and 57 youngsters
are now being trained and qualified in essential railway skills.

Since 1948, the length of track rose from about 200 kilometers
to 506 kilometers of which 336 kilometers are main line and 170
branch and extension lines. The number of passengers and freight
handled by the Railways rose consistently during this period:

Year

Passengers Travelled

Freight Carried

1948-1949

281,615

167,983 tons

1949

829,000

390,000 "

1953

2,414,000

970,000 "

New Lines

The new coastal line from Hadera to Tel Aviv North was
brought into operation in 1953 for both passenger and freight
traffic. By the summer of 1954 this line will extend to a new Tel-
Aviv terminal — the Arlosoroff Station. When this line is completed,
the travelling time between Tel-Aviv and Haifa will be only 75 to 89
minutes. The existing Tel-Aviv North station will be converted
into a modern goods station.

Plans are now underway for a line, by-passing Tel-Aviv entirely,
to connect the Haifa-Tel Aviv coastal line with Jerusalem.

ISegev Railway

The Negev Railway from Na'an Junction to Beersheba is now
under construction. About 60 percent of the earthwork, bridges
and culverts were completed and the first 7 kilometres of line laid.
It is hoped that the line will be finished by 1954.

Plans and surveys are being prepared for the continuation of this
line to Mamshit (Kurnub) since cheap rail transport is essential
for the heavy loads of phosphates, glass sand, kaolin and potash
which must be transferred from mining areas to processing factories
and ports.

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Posts, Telegraph & Telephones

With the termination of the British Mandate, all post offices
and postal agencies closed. Local telephone services continued to
operate since these exchanges were largely manned by Jews, but trunk
lines passing through territory not held by Israel were dislocated.
All contracts for the conveyance of surface and airmail abroad were
cancelled, and connections with the Universal Postal Union and
International Telecommunications Union severed.

This situation was remedied quickly. An elementary internal
postal service sped into operation and the first Israel stamps ap-
peared. Local telephone lines were repaired and trunk lines passed
through Israel territory, but damaged in the fighting were patched
up. New temporary lines were put into operation to by-pass enemy
territory.

Communications abroad were reorganized by individual agree-
ments reached with foreign states for the resumption of postal and air
communications, and in June 1949, Israel was admitted to the
International Telecommunications Union, in December 1949 to the
Universal Postal Union.

In 1953 many new services were put into operation and existing
services expanded. Three sets of figures indicate the scale of these
services:

209,000,000 units of postal mattei- — letters and parcels,
inland and overseas — were handled.

630,000 local telegrams were dispatched and 650,000 over-
sea cables dispatched and received.

74,000,000 local and 4,500,000 interurban telephone calls
were made. There were 17,000 international calls.

A new telephone exchange for 7,000 subscribers was opened in
Tel Aviv North, another for 4,000 subscribers in Tel Aviv South,
and a 2,000 subscriber exchange in Ramat Can. These exchanges
provided for further expansion of over 10,000 lines. A new interur-
ban telephone exchange will operate in Tel Aviv this summer con-
siderably improving the transmission of long-distance calls.

The transmission of telegrams by telephone to and from sub-
scribers was introduced in 1953 and has become most popular.

A Post Office Bank, providing the usual facilities, was opened
in November, 1953 and is developing rapidly.

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t

A new medium-wave broadcast transmitter of 50 kilowatt was
put into operation in May, 1953, providing improved reception
tlirougliout the country. A short-wave transmitter of the same out-
put is under construction to be inaugurated soon. It will be beamed
to Europe, North and South Africa and tests will be made to beam
transmissions to North and South America.

An Electronic Standard Time Clock, with an accuracy of 1/10
second per day, was constructed for the Ministry of Posts and has
been in operation since January, 1954. The clock serves as a master
clock for the postal services, broadcasting stations and for scientific
institutes all over Israel. It will also provide time signals for the
"speaking clock" which will be installed next year in the Jerusalem
Telephone Exchange.

A central four-year training school for telecommimications
technicians has been operated by the Post Office since 1951. The
school has 58 students in the first three grades and will graduate its
first class next year.

At the "Bible and the Stamp" International Philatelic Exhibi-
tion held last year in Austria by the Protestant Church Union, the
Israel exhibit was awarded one of six gold medals. Exhibits have
also been placed on show in London and Lisbon.

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Published by the

ISRAEL OFFICE OF INFORMATION

I I East 70th Street, New York, N. Y.

Washington, D. C. Chicago Los Angeles Montreal, Canada

1621 22nd Street 936 N. Michigan Ave. 208 W. 8th St. 1260 University Street

This material is filed with the Department of Justice where the required registra-
tion statement, under 22 U.S.C. 611 et seq., of Israel Office of Information as an
agency of the Israel Government is available for inspection. Registration does not
imply approval or disapproval of this material by the United States Government.