Greek General Staff Decades to Permit Jews of Military Age to Emigrate to Israel

Greek Jews of military age will now be permitted to emigrate to Israel, the Israeli Consul in Athens today announced. The Greek General Staff has approved this policy change and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will facilitate the migration.

The departure of all Greek citizens between the ages of 19 and 40 had been prohibited since the Civil War flared up. No detailed information is available on the nature of the facilities to be granted by the Athens Government.

The Greek Foreign Office today received official notification from Tel Aviv stating that Joseph Mallah, a Greek Jew recently appointed by the Foreign Minister as Greek diplomatic representative to Tel Aviv, is acceptable to the Israeli Government. The appointment of Mr. Mallah had been criticized here by some Greek newspapers which opposed the sending of a Jew to Israel as a representative of Greece.

A delegation of Jewish communal leaders called on Acting Archbishop Joachim of the Creek Orthodox Church to convey the condolences of Greek Jewry on the death last week of Archbishop Damaskinos, Greek Orthodox Prelate. The delegation told the Acting Archbishop that world Jewry, particularly Greek Jewry, was shocked by the death of the Prelate in whom they had found a protector “even in the dark days of racial persecution” Archbishop Joachim thanked the delegation and assured its members that the Greek Church esteemed and sympathized with the Jewish people.