Foreign Minister Abba Eban lashed out today against the “counsels of despair” who propose that Jews raise the money to “ransom” Soviet Jewish academicians and intellectuals seeking to leave the USSR, His remarks were seen as directed at Dr. Nahum Goldmann, president of the World Jewish Congress although Eban did not mention Dr. Goldmann by name, Addressing some 3000 school children assembled at the Western Wall plaza, the Foreign Minister said: “We will not rest nor be silent until the (ransom) decree is revoked.” Eban told the Cabinet yesterday that he regretted the Goldmann statement.
He told the youngsters today that the Wall represented “the three ideals which permeated the era of the Prophets-Jewish eternal destiny, freedom of the spirit and peace.” He said the Soviets “in a cruel blow” were trying to undermine all three of these values. He said it was “rubbish” for the Soviet authorities to claim that the visa payments they demand represented the cost of educating the Jews seeking to leave. “The scientists of the USSR-Jews among them-have contributed incomparably more to their country than the price fixed on their heads,” he said.
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