New procedures for processing Soviet Jewish emigrants that, if successful, might reduce the number of Soviet Jews who choose to settle in countries other than Israel was announced by HIAS.
Addressing a press conference at HIAS headquarters here last Friday, Gaynor Jacobson, executive vice president of HIAS, said that under the new plan Soviet Jewish emigrants would spend only two days in Vienna, their first stop out of the Soviet Union, instead of eight to 10 days as heretofore.
Those who opt for settling in Israel will fly there from Vienna. The others, according to the new plan, will go to a hotel north of Rome where, during up to a week’s stay, they will receive expert “joint counseling” from representatives of HIAS, the Joint Distribution Committee and the Jewish Agency. The counseling will consist of providing up-to-date information about life in Israel and the opportunities Israel has to offer to the individual Soviet emigrant.
“Those with close relatives in the U.S. or other countries will be helped to be reunited with their families,” Jacobson explained. “For all the other emigrants, a conscientious and sensitive effort will be made to help them choose to go to Israel.” But Jacobson said in response to a question from the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that the new procedures do not indicate a shift in policy on the part of HIAS and that any Soviet Jew who insists on going to the United States will be assisted by HIAS.
HOPES TO REVERSE TREND
Jacobson said he hoped that under the new procedures, two-thirds of future Soviet Jewish emigrants would choose to settle in Israel and one-third in the U.S., Canada, Australia and other countries. At
present, the figures are exactly the reverse, he said.
He added that he believed the expert counseling to Soviet Jews in Rome, which is to begin in a few weeks, “will help many refugees make better informed choices than in the recent past.” Israel, he said, “has a great deal to offer, especially for people in certain professions. Beyond this, Israel possesses a religious and cultural environment that Jews from the Soviet Union have never been permitted to enjoy.”
Jacobson also announced that HIAS–through local Jewish community organizations and Jewish Federations–was encouraging American Jews (especially recent arrivals) with close relatives in the Soviet Union to send “letters of invitation” to their kin desiring to leave the USSR.
“In recent times, an average of 500 Soviet Jews a year has come to the United States in this manner,” Jacobson reported, “and we believe larger numbers will arrive here if there is an increase in invitations from close relatives.”
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