Report to the ... Zionist Congress and to the Council of the Jewish Agency in ... · 1935-08-01 · 8.1935 · p. Seite 436

II. DEVELOPMENTS IN PALESTINE. I.—Immigration. 1. The two years which have elapsed since the 18th Congress have been a period of unprecedented increase in Jewish immigration to Palestine and of an equally unprecedented struggle with the Government on the immigration issue. The great expansion of Jewish economic activity which had begun in the previous Congress period has continued at an accelerated pace. It rendered possible a marked growth in the volume of immigration, but it produced at the same time a continued and intense labour shortage, the extent of which indicated in how large a measure labour immigration lagged behind the country's rapidly expanding absorptive capacity. The discussions on the admissible size of Jewish immigration—or, in other words, on the possible pace of progress of the Jewish National Home—became a pivotal issue in the relations of the Jewish Agency with the Palestine Government. It was the contention of the Jewish Agency throughout the period that the development of the Jewish National Home was not allowed to proceed at as rapid a pace as was warranted by the economic progress of Palestine and the growing Jewish distress in the Diaspora. 2. The rising tide of. immigration is reflected in the following The total for the first six months of 1935 is 30,500 The total number of Jewish immigrants for the period between the 18th and 19th Congress is estimated at 100,000, which represents an increase of 45 per cent, on the previous number of the Jewish population. On June 30th, 1935, the Jewish population was estimated to number 335,000, which represents over 26 per cent, of the total population of Palestine. 3. The negotiations with the Government on the half-yearly labour schedules continued to occupy a central position in the activities of the Political Department, and were the object of keen public attention. Four ordinary labour schedules and one supplementary were granted during the period under review. The figures of the absorptive capacity, as estimated by the Jewish Agency and by the Government respectively, as well as the number of permits actually granted for the four half-yearly periods, are contained in the following table : figures : Year. 1931 1932 1933 1934 Total Jewish Immigrants. 4,075 9,553 30,327 42,359 436