Chief Rabbi Moses Rosen of Rumania told the press that during the first five months of 1981, 333 Jews left Rumania for Israel, while 390 Jews obtained passports and are ready for emigration. Rabbi Rosen also said 299 Jews have been approved and are preparing the required documents for passports.
Chief Rabbi Rosen said he had accepted in 1979 a request from the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations to supervise Rumanian Jewish emigration to Israel. He said that, following the 1979 agreement, emigres to Israel also are registered in the offices of the Rumanian Jewish communities.
He said he is given lists by name of all applications and the action of Rumanian authorities on each request. He expressed his gratitude to the Rumanian government for the “goodwill and humanitarian feelings” they are showing concerning the problems of Rumanian Jews. He said that since 1948, more than 350,000 Rumanian Jews — 90 percent of all Rumanian Jews — arrived in Israel, adding there are 33,000 Jews now left in Rumania.
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