The Berlin municipal authorities have decided that 300 Soviet Jews who arrived there from Israel and refuse to return may stay permanently in Berlin.
The local authorities asked Interior Minister Wolfgang Schauble to issue special permits for their absorption in Germany. The minister is expected to comply.
The Jews, who immigrated to Israel from the Soviet Union last year and lived there, some as long as 10 months, carry Israeli documents and are for all practical purposes Israeli citizens.
They arrived in Berlin in January saying they sought temporary refuge from Iraqi Scud missile attacks.
The group was supposed to return to Israel by the end of this month at the latest, when their temporary qualification for financial assistance would have expired.
But they balked, saying their experience in Israel had been unpleasant, that they were mistreated, could not find jobs, found the language too difficult and the climate too hot.
The unusual situation embarrassed German officials, since the Bonn government, prodded by Israel, recently put tight restriction on the admission of Soviet Jews.
Israel argues that no Jews are homeless because Israel is willing to absorb them.
The German Jewish community was angered by the situation. Its chairman, Heinz Galinski, rejected the complaints of the Soviet Jews and urged them to return to Tel Aviv.
He said their insistence on remaining in Germany could prejudice the chances of other Jews hoping to enter the country according to the rules.
Officially, the Bonn government will not accept Soviet Jews who come here via a third country. Those wishing to enter Germany must apply for visas at the German consulates in Soviet cities.
Germany accepts those applicants who have relatives in Germany or can prove German ethnic origin.
Until this week, the Berlin authorities said they would have no choice but to send their Soviet guests back to Israel. At the same time, they insisted their forcible expulsion was never contemplated.
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.
