Soviet Jewish emigration totalled 807 in July, the National Conference on Soviet Jewry reported Friday. The 1987 total for Soviet Jewish emigration is 3,095, according to NCSJ, the largest number since 2,688 Jews left in 1982.
The Israeli Ministry of Immigration and Absorption reported Thursday that 249 Soviet Jews arrived in Israel this month, while NCSJ said that total was 243 An NCSJ spokesman attributed the difference to record-keeping about six Soviet Jews who arrived in Israel late on June 30.
Israeli Minister of Immigration and Absorption Yaacov Tsur said that 1,056 Soviet Jews, or 39 percent of the 2,688 who have left the USSR this year, came to Israel.
Tsur expressed concern that Soviet authorities were granting visas only to veteran refuseniks, and that the continued high “dropout rate” from Israel of the emigres would hinder chances of continued Soviet Jewish emigration.
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