Rassco (Rural and Suburban Settlement Company) is an Israeli construction and development company.We Were Europeans: A Personal History of a Turbulent Century - Werner M. LovalTime Pillars of Israel economy – Peretz Dagan It was established in Mandate Palestine 1934 at the initiative of the Jewish Agency.Israel Industry and CommerceEconomic News - Israel. Committee for Industrial Credits
History The company's initial goals were the establishment of agricultural settlements and industrial enterprises to assist in the absorption of German Jewish immigrants.Israel Economic Forum Rassco was intended to be the central instrument for middle-class settlement and housing in Palestine.Facts about Rassco - Rural and suburban settlement company (Tel-Aviv) Housing in Israel: Economic and Sociological Aspects - Haim Darin-Drabkin
The founders were Yeshayahu Foerder, Georg Landauer, Ludwig Pinner, Arthur Ruppin and David Senator.Encyclopedia of Zionism and Israel, edited by Raphael Patai, Herzl Press/McGraw Hill, New York, 1971, vol. 2, p. 936 Chaim Weizmann, later Israel's first president, was the first chairman of the board.
The company built residential neighborhoods all over Israel, including the Rassco neighborhood in Jerusalem that bears its name.
In the 1950s, Rassco was listed on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. In the 1960s, Rassco built large-scale housing projects in Iran. In 1970, the Jewish Agency owned over 99 percent of the company shares and elected the entire board of directors.
Other enterprises run by Rassco include a metal factory, a prefabricated building company, a hotel and a health resort.
See also Economy of Israel
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