Aliya from the Western countries is the main item on the agenda of a three-day meeting of the Zionist General Council which opened here today. It is attended by about 300 delegates and observers from Israel and abroad representing Zionist groups affiliated with the World Zionist Organization.
Haim Aharon, head of the Jewish Agency’s immigration and absorption department declared at the opening session that Israel must create the proper conditions to attract Jewish immigrants from the West. He questioned whether present-day Israel lives up to its role in that respect. Israel must decide if it is interested in aliya from the Western countries and if it is, “then first of all we must create the proper atmosphere in Israel.” The Zionist movement and the government should make aliya the top national priority, he said.
Leon Dulzin, chairman of the Jewish Agency and WZO Executives, urged Zionist leaders in the U.S. to persuade the American Jewish community to pressure HIAS and other Jewish organizations not to assist Soviet Jewish emigres who opt to settle in the U.S. rather than in Israel.
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