Rapid and continuing expansion is. then. the cardinal feature of Israels economy. From 1950 to 1965 the gross national product grew by an average of 11 percent a year. compared with 7.5 percent in Western Germany and 3.3 percent in the United States. The high rate of growth has provided the resources for a considerable rise in the standard of living. despite the trebling of the populationmainly through immigrationand the enormous burden of absorbing the immigrants into the economy and strengthening the countrys defenses. A visitor to Israel today finds no trace of the immigrant camps. or the general shortages of consumer goods characteristic of the first years of independence. Now Israel is alive with economic activity. bright new towns. and plentiful consumer goods. Accompanying economic achievement have come important steps toward political and social progress.
Keywords matched
immigrant immigrationand immigrants