Illinois Senator Said to Have Been Told by White House That Jewish Issue Was ‘discussed in Detail’ a

Capitol Hill sources said today that Sen. Charles Percy (R. Ill.) is informing Jewish leaders among his constituents that the matter of Soviet Jewry “was discussed in detail at the highest levels” at the Moscow summit conference last month. Sources close to the Senator told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that Percy was so informed by the White House. This could only be interpreted as meaning that President Nixon took up the matter with Soviet Communist Party Secretary General Leonid Brezhnev in their talks in Moscow.

The sources said the discussions took place “in the context that the United States government and people are deeply concerned about the infringement of the human rights of minorities in the Soviet Union.” Questioned on this aspect, the sources said the President’s presentation included all peoples in the Soviet Union regarded as minorities such as those in the Baltic states where there have been reports of ferment against the Soviet government.

However, the Jewish issue was emphasized, the sources said. They did not deny, when asked by the JTA, that Sen. Percy was making this information known to his constituents in view of a statement two weeks ago by Sen. John Tunney (D. Calif.) that cast doubts on assertions that the President actually took up the matter of Soviet Jewry with the Soviet leadership.

There was also a report by an American Jewish writer for sections of the American Jewish press that Soviet diplomats in Moscow said the issue was never part of the summit conference agenda. Both in Moscow and during a press conference in Kiev afterwards, Presidential adviser Henry Kissinger told newsmen that the issue of Soviet Jewry was “mentioned” but refused to give details as to the context or the Soviet reaction.