The flow then ebbed for a few years. but in 1956 and 1957 nearly 120.000 came from Poland. Hungary. and Rumania when the Iron Curtain was raised for a short while. and from Egypt. All told. from May 1948 to the end of 1960. some 980.000 immigrants have settled in Israel. The magnitude of this accomplishment becomes more apparent when we remember that the population of Israel. just before the State was declared. was only 790.000. For the United States to equal this feat proportionately it would have been necessary for us to admit. in the years 1900 to 1913. for example. when the flow of immigration to this country was greatest. over 90 million persons. as opposed to the approximately 10 million who actually did come to our shores. For a nation to accept an immigration one and a quarter times as large as its original population simply staggers the imagination. Israel did not. however. consider its duty done Just by admitting the immigrants. The majority of the newcomers arrived without means or skills. It was necessary for the Israeli Government to house and train them. give them immediate employment and provide them with steady jobs in agriculture and industry. build new villages and towns. establish and expand public. social. and educational services. and facilitate social and cultural integration.
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