Hias Ends Agreement with Jewish Agency on Helping Noshrim

HIAS has decided to end its experimental three-month agreement with the Jewish Agency to refrain from aiding Soviet Jewish dropouts unless they have first degree relatives in a Western country.

Leanard Seidenman, executive vice president of HIAS, responding to questions from the Jewish Telegraphic Agency about this development, said that the board of HIAS decided Monday night to accept the recommendation of its executive committee to “return to the traditional policy” of aiding all Soviet Jews who upon arriving in Vienna opt to go to countries other than Israel.

Seidenman said the view of the board and the executive committee was that the agreement which went into effect January I was an experiment “that did not succeed in its objective, increased aliya to Israel.” He emphasized that there was no feeling among board members of being vindicated or of being elated over the fact that their prediction, that the experiment would not succeed, had been confirmed in practice.

He added that the board asked the executive committee to try to find alternatives to achieve greater aliya to Israel and would accept any new plan that would help achieve that goal.

BACKGROUND OF THE AGREEMENT

The agreement reached last year between the Jewish Agency and HIAS after marathon talks in Jerusalem on the question of aid to Soviet Jews who opt to settle in a Western country, was understood to be an interim one. Leon Dulzin, chairman of the Jewish Agency Executive, who was the moving spirit behind the new arrangement, had long held the view that there was a sharp dropout rate among Soviet Jews who reached Vienna from the USSR because of aid being offered by HIAS to help them resettle in the West.

HIAS officials consistently denied this, noting that under-a long-standing agreement with the Agency, Soviet Jewish refugees have been met by Agency officials in Vienna and urged to continue on to Israel. If they decline, the Agency refers them to HIAS, which provides assistance to help them emigrate to lands other than Israel.

Shortly before the agreement was reached last year, Dulzin announced that the Agency would no longer give HIAS the names of Soviet Jews in Vienna who decided not to continue on to Israel. Dulzin said he hoped that the new agreement reached with HIAS would cause a sharp decline in the number of dropouts and expressed his belief that the rising dropout rate was the chief cause for the sharp reduction in the number of exit visas issued by Soviet authorities.

A resolution adopted by the HIAS executive committee several days before it worked out the interim agreement with the Jewish Agency last year stated that it “fully understands and appreciates the motivation of the Jewish Agency’s efforts to increase emigration to Israel. HIAS as a world organization shares these endeavors and recognizes its responsibility to help achieve such a goal.”

The resolution added, however, that HIAS “is not prepared to refuse its services to Soviet Jewish emigrants who have not been specifically referred by the Jewish Agency.” It added: “The HIAS tradition is to serve every Jewish refugee in need, anywhere in the world, with compassion and understanding.”