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EDUCATION IN ISRAEL * My primary mission tonight is to discuss an education project develeped jointly by the Government of Israel and by the Government of the United States. Though my remarks will be, as I say primarily concerned with this project it is impossible to discuss education in Israel or indeed in any country without placing the subject in its larger social context. I shall therefore from time to time speak of the social and economic condi- tions which impinge upon the present status and the probable future develop- mont of education in Israel. As an illustration of the relation between education and other forces in the new state I might appropriately mention at the outset the important part that Histadrut has played and will continue to play in the development of the Israeli educational system. Dedicated as Histadrut. is to the advance- ment of human welfare geperally, and specifically to the extension of educa- tional opportunity, it is not surprising that it has played an important part in building up the Israeli educational aystem. The labor schools, as you woll know, constitute one of the most importent elements in the total structure of education in Iaraol. I commend the members of Histadrut for the important work which they are now doing and I wish them well in their future efforts which have significance not only for the people of Israel but for free people everywhere. Before discussing the work of the Educational Mission of which I am the chairman I should like to speak briefly about ay impression of Israel in general. From the moment that I stepped off the plane in Lydda I folt Address by Earl James McGrath, U. S. Commissioner of Education, Federal Security Agency, Washington, D. C., before the National Convention of the National Committee for Labor Israel, at Hunter College, New York, N. Y., at 8:00 pem., November 25, 1950.