Israel will soon initiate a drastic change to emigrate from the Soviet Union. Effective shortly, they will be issued only to those definitely bound for Israel, the news media reported over the weekend.
Soviet Jews wishing to immigrate to countries other than Israel presumably will have to obtain visas from those countries.
Premier Yitzhak Shamir and Foreign Minister Shimon Peres agreed on the change because of the liberalization of Soviet exit visa policies last year and the soaring number dropouts – Soviet Jews who settle in countries other than Israel after leaving the USSR with Israeli visas.
The change also was prompted by the prospects of a significant increase in the number of exit permits this year. According to Yediot Achronot, Soviet officials have promised Peres that 1,400 Jews will be allowed to leave this month, including several individuals denied permission in the past for “security reasons.”
While no date has been announced for the changeover, Jerusalem has been announced for the changeover, Jerusalem has already advised the Dutch Embassy in Moscow that it intends to stop issuing visas through its facilities. The Netherlands has represented Israeli interests in the Soviet Union since Moscow broke diplomatic ties with Israel in 1967.
Israel has also informer the Soviet authorities it intends to stop issuing visas through the Dutch Embassy, where they could be obtained by Jews who have no intention of going to Israel.
Instead, only the Israeli Embassy in Bucharest, Romania, will issue visas for entry into Israel. Jews bound for Israel will have to fly direct, with a brief stopover in Bucharest, rather than flying first to Vienna, as the vast majority of emigrating Soviet Jews do today.
The Soviet Union has allowed several direct flights to Israel via Bucharest in recent months. Romania is the only Communist bloc country that has full diplomatic ties with Israel.
1987 SOVIET POLICY CHANGE
The change was made feasible after the Soviet Union announced in June 1987 that its citizens could emigrate to any country in the world fro the purpose of family reunion.
The altered Soviet policy cleared the way for more extensive Jewish emigration, Maariv noted Monday. Israel became only one of several countries of choice.
Previously, Jews were granted exit visas only if they could produce invitations from relatives in Israel, even if they wished to be reunited with families in other countries, such as the United States.
In late April, Israel announced it would begin issuing invitations with the requirement that emigrating Soviet Jews pick up their visas in Bucharest, in effect ensuring that Israeli invitations no longer will be used to facilitate immigration to other will be used to facilitate immigration to other countries.
Under the old policy, Jews allowed to leave the Soviet Union traveled via Vienna, where a majority of them opted to immigrate to Western countries, notably the United States. This month, the “dropout” figure hit an unprecedented 90 percent.
The Israelis were angered and embarrassed by the high dropout rate, arguing that Jews who left Russia on the strength of Israeli visas were obliged to go to Israel.
They also maintained that the flood of Soviet Jews going to the United States was one reason Moscow clamped down hard on Jewish emigration in recent years.
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.
