Israelis Return from USSR Visit

A member of the delegation of six Israeli critics of Israel’s foreign policy who went to the Soviet Union as guests of the Russian Peace Committee said here today on his return that delegation members found among many Russians they met the view that Israel’s right to exist was indisputable. Prof. Dan Miron of Tel Aviv University, speaking for the group at an improvised press conference, said that the delegation members were convinced that resumption of normal diplomatic relations between Israel and the Soviet Union was of “paramount importance.”

The invitation for the six Israelis to visit the USSR was widely viewed as evidence of a reported Soviet interact in exploring that possibility but Prof. Miron had nothing to say as to whether the delegation found any evidence to support those reports. He said he was convinced that most Russian Jews had found their place as “an integral part” of the Russian nation but should be given the opportunity to maintain cultural ties with relatives and other sections of the Jewish people. He said the “smaller part” of Soviet Jewry wanted to emigrate from Russia and join relatives in Israel and should be permitted to do so.