In an article appearing in the ) news letter of its foreign rela- tions department, the Commu- oe aparty of Israel comments n “Strains on Israeli Econo- My”: a ‘ According to the Israeli press, a Cabinet approved a cut of oe to 200 million Israeli ee to be added to an ear- oe cut of Ie 340 million.” (For MParison: current fiscal year Udget 1970-1971 is close to IE 000 million.) esti apparent reasons for this Bion ‘ step were two: a) ‘“‘addi- Sc Fr al defense appropriations for f. northern border make it oa ad to trim expenditure : aa €re in accordance with ce Teasury’s determination to its books balanced.” 'b) The bilit to Maintain monetary sta- 4 ated Makes it necessary to ‘i att €r the government’s foreign in aed reserves and the cut sét eure will make it. pos- into an the money saved to go ob his reserve. 0} 4, sWever, there is no money “g, ou! ., © Saved. The cuts are not Int ‘ sal" ag ‘to reduce. the total ye! Unt of government expend- af : € because any amount saved if? fe ; 'S Now to be shifted to de- iM M. Ater writes in the ol! “salem Post of May 21, 1970. eal uae Bursting Point cs bviously this new develop- if they “mphasizes two aspects of Hu! expe wuation in Israel. Defense 7 fee ure is “again outrun- i} tiong Ss vastly increased alloca- as} Of th Which have reached 40% | ... pe 10,000 million budget ing| ing € Israeli economy is show- danger i i nat} Mj gerous strains which : ‘Bht reach bursting points. of} & oY wal pet Makes this dangerous ty, © dark perspectives for 8 import of capital to off- no = Meet eins trade deficit and Ss = a War burden strains Israeli economy It is well known that the Isra- eli ruling circles have always banked on the income of the “Jewish United Appeal’; the sale of Israeli bonds, U.S. and foreign investments and out- right aid and long term loans from the U.S. and Western countries . . . to save its eco- nomy... : : And it is here that the pros- pects are dim. -The indications are piling that the U.S. is fac- ing what Newsweek has called —mildly—a recession . . . and the quick deterioration of the stock market only supported the idea that the flow of capital to Israel from the U.S. has become questionable. Burdens and Responses The cabinet’s step was wel- comed by the coalition press. However, the bourgeois press was not satisfied. Ha’aretz wrote that the government’s move at economizing “will not achieve its purpose, if the government ‘does not refrain from expendi- ture which is beyond the eco- nomy’s capacity. It would be well to redetermine scales of priorities in government expen- diture: even for those items al- ready approved and cut accord- ingly.” What this meant was clear. Ha’aretz, and the big bourgeoisie - which it represents, are clamor- ing for the emaciation of the already reduced expenditure on social services. Thus M. Ater thinks “there is no shame for a nation at war not to. afford to care also for say the univer- sities or social cases or even improving health standards.” Worker’s Struggle ; . Under the circumstances it ‘was not strange to witness the. growth of the class struggle despite every effort to arrest it union ‘“cooperatives’’) ship: . ' Jt is lack of support that by waving “patriotic” slogans, and accusing strikers of being “enemies” or ‘‘serving the in- terest of the enemy” at a time of national emergency. .In fact, one of the positive aspects of 1969 was the rise in. | the number of strikes ... Sig- nificantly the majority of the A strikes were so-called “wildcat” strikes carried out against the wishes of the Histradut (trade leader- alienates the majority of work- ers from the trade union leader- ship which sides with foreign and local monopolies rather than fight for the workers’ interest. Is It a Crime? Recently during a meeting with Ben Aharon, the general secretary of the Histadrut, a stevedore from Ashdod port ex- plaining the fight of his col- leagues for better wages and conditions - said: “It is not a crime for an employer to earn an extra million or two, and it should not be a crime for us to earn money for another pair of shoes for our children.” In these words the stevedore _ expressed in a nutshell the Is- : raeli reality which is character- ized by increasing capitalist profits on the one hand and freezing of wages on the other. Thus while wages percentage in the national income decreas- ed from 52.6% in 1965 to 43.3% in 1969, the industrial profits in 1968 increased by 60% and reached at least I£ 1000 million and increased. in. 1969 still more to reach it 1100 million. No wonder therefore that the country has lately witnessed another wave of strikes and slow-downs — in the ports, the Palestinian guerillas are where... Disastrous Course i training East, growing in strength and effectiveness. post office of Tel-Aviv and else- Moreover with the growing political awakening of wide cir- cles at the disastrous course of the government in the Middle East crisis, broader strata of workers are discovering the or- ganic unity between the exten- sive war expenditure and the monopolies profits on the one 6 4 ‘¢. Beaty ea a a & each day throughout the Middle hand and the reactionary on- slaught on the workers standard of living on the other. The recent cuts which will hurt the working people _ be- . cause they hit social services are apt to-accelerate the pro- cess of increasing consciousness. The fact that the workers are not awed by the occusation that they are “enemies” or ‘“Nas- serites” when they strike is a good omen. i S fiscal needs. ot! ps eff ihe ) By WILLIAM KASHTAN | the @e'Pts from the main report to i feentral Committee Meeting, Com- if | 1079, Party of Canada, June 6, 7, 8, f ef ] : 0 mos entrast to the massive and world iy Can, i On to the Nixon adventure, the yet @n government has shown itself Perigy,