Foreign Minister Abba Eban said today that any future settlement with Syria would have to be conditioned on a prior commitment by the Syrian government to cease the persecution of Jews in that country. Eban said that such a commitment would have to be part of any Syrian undertaking to co-exist peacefully with Israel.
The Foreign Minister spoke in the Knesset in reply to an agenda motion on Syrian Jews by Likud MK Geula Cohen. He recalled that during the Yom Kippur War, Premier Golda Meir had stated that a settlement with Syria would have to include a change in Damascus’ policy toward Syrian Jews.
Ms. Cohen called for a more aggressive Israeli policy on this issue and questioned the secrecy that surrounds events concerning Jews in Syria. Eban replied that some things were best kept secret if secrecy eases the conditions under which Syrian Jews live. “The fear that they only serve as a scapegoat still exists,” Eban said. He said that while most Jewish prisoners in Syria have been released, three who were incarcerated in Sept. 1971 remain unheard from. In addition, Syrian Jews continue to suffer restrictions and indignities, Eban said.
Referring to the fate of Iraqi Jews, Eban said most Jews had left that country but 18 Iraqi Jews remain in prison and have not been heard from. Eban expressed appreciation for the efforts of international bodies on behalf of Jews in Syria and Iraq.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
