Aftermath of Reports on Soviet Jewry: Hope and Caution is Prevailing Mood in Israel; Soviet Consular

Hope tempered by caution was the continuing prevailing mood in Israel Wednesday following reports that the Soviet Union may soon permit substantial numbers of Jews leave for Israel.

Vice Premier and Foreign Minister Shimon Peres said Wednesday that relations between the two countries will warm very soon. This was reinforced by the scheduled visit of a Consular delegation from Moscow. But it was not known whether the Soviets have agreed to Israel’s condition that an Israeli delegation of a similar nature would return the visit. The visit by the Soviet delegation was arranged during the brief meeting between Israeli and Soviet representatives in Helsinki last August.

(According to an Israel Radio report from Washington, Israeli Ambassador Meir Rosenne said that the Soviet group could arrive in Israel in two weeks. “There is certainly a Soviet interest in renewing relations with Israel, but Israel also has an interest that the Israeli flag be planted soon in Moscow. When this will happen, we cannot say.” Rosenne was quoted as telling Israel Radio. There was no immediate comment from Soviet officials in Moscow.)

THOUSANDS OF JEWS EXPECTED

The Foreign Ministry estimated Wednesday that thousands of Soviet Jews will be getting exit visas in the next few months. That prediction was bolstered by reports that 470 Jews left the USSR last month, the largest number to leave in a single month in more than five years. Only 126 of them came to Israel, however.

But reports of recent talks in Moscow between Western Jewish leaders and ranking Soviet officials spoke of a new procedure whereby Jewish emigrants would be flown directly to Israel via Rumania.

ISRAEL IS ABLE TO ABSORB NEWCOMERS

Peres said Tuesday he was sure Israel could absorb thousand of immigrants from Russia. The Absorption Ministry said it plans to accommodate them initially at hotels rather than at absorption centers and will provide them with permanent housing in short order.

There are an estimated 60,000 vacant flats in Israel, though only half of them are in the three large cities. These are considered sufficient for the next three years on the basis of a projected influx of 10,000 immigrants per year. According to the Absorption Ministry, the cost of absorbing them will amount to $220 million a year.

Although housing seems to pose no problem, the Ministry is concerned about employment opportunities. A high proportion of the immigrants expected from the Soviet Union are university graduates and they may not be able to find jobs corresponding to those they had in the USSR.

Yitzhak Welber, secretary of the teachers’ union, sent a telegram to Education Minister Yitzhak Navon Wednesday asking him to establish a team of experts to plan the absorption of hundreds of teachers and students from the Soviet Union. He said the educational challenge is to create strong motivation among the immigrants so they will be less likely to leave Israel.