For the third time in ten days, an official organ of the controlled Soviet propaganda apparatus denied that the USSR plans to allow emigration of Russian Jews to Israel. Today’s denial was issued by Tass, the Kremlin’s official news service. Ten days ago, Moscow Radio broadcast the same announcement. Two days later, it appeared in the Soviet Government’s official newspaper, Izvestia.
Like the previous announcements, obviously designed to curry favor with the Arab states that have been complaining against the influx of East European Jews into Israel, today’s Tass dispatch declared: “Sensational reports alleging that the Soviet Union intends to put into effect the mass emigration of Jews to Israel are a malicious, provocative fabrication, and have no foundation whatever.”
The Tass release also stressed again a previous announcement to the effect that Russia does not intend to permit Russian Jews to attend the meeting of the World Jewish Congress, scheduled to be held next Fall in Stockholm. Like earlier denials, this one, too, called the World Jewish Congress a “Zionist” organization, and turned as a “fabrication” the report that Russian Jews would go to Stockholm for the WJC sessions.
Today’s reiteration by Tass seemed to coincide with the meeting at Cairo of the Arab League Council, which has been convened in emergency session to evaluate the new immigration to Israel, it was commented here.
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