Between 300,000 and 500,000 Israelis are now living in the U.S., according to an internal report prepared by the Jewish Agency. Agency officials declined to comment on the report, details of which were disclosed by Israeli newspapers yesterday.
Sources in the Prime Minister’s office said they thought the figures were exaggerated. They noted that the Central Bureau of Statistics spokesman pointed out that their monthly and annual figures are estimates and merely show the excess of citizens leaving the country over those returning. Few departing Israelis admit they are “yordim” (emigrants). Many Israelis return after a year or more of study or visit abroad.
The report was prepared for presentation to Premier Menachem Begin by Agency Director General Shmuel Lahis after a tour of the U.S. He was accompanied part of the time by Deputy Premier Simcha Ehrlich who broke off his trip to rush Home to support the government in a crucial non-confidence vote.
Of the total estimated in the report, some 220,000 Israelis are living in the New York area and another 120,000 in Los Angeles. The yordim include about 100,000 children, about 35,000 of them living in New York.
A SIZEABLE ELEMENT IN U.S. SOCIETY
If the Jewish Agency figures are correct, Israelis now represent a sizeable and significant element as a national group within America’s pluralistic society.
The report suggested that Ehrlich should coordinate on inter-governmental committee to ensure continued contacts between Israel and the emigrants in the hope that many of then can be persuaded to return home. Special attention should be paid to the education of the children. Special “Israel schools” should not be established, the report said but emphasis should be put on adding more Israeli Hebrew and Zionist content to existing Jewish schools and Sunday schools.
The report recommended that yordim who agreed to return should be extended special facilities in both imports and loans, bringing them closer to the special arrangements granted to new immigrants.
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