The Jewish Agency announced yesterday that it was dispensing with regular health checkups and lifting the standard restrictions on persons of ill repute in the case of Iranian Jews who want to settle in Israel. Passengers arriving on an EI AI flight from Teheran told reporters that the situation in the capital was worsening. They said economic life was virtually paralyzed and there was a growing fuel shortage.
The Jewish Agency and the relevant government departments have been preparing for some weeks for a possible mass influx of immigrants from Iran. So for it has failed to materialize and some circles expressed fear that by the time Iranian Jews decide to leave it may be too late for them to do so.
Jewish Agency Treasurer Akiva Lewinsky saw a parallel between the situation of Iranian Jews today and the Jews in Germany before World War Il who persuaded themselves that they were safe despite all signs to the contrary.
Addressing a Labor Zionist youth seminar, Lewinsky claimed-that most Iranian Jews were trying “to convince themselves that the talk against Israel and Zionism has nothing to do with them as Jews.” He urged Iranian Jews to immigrate to Israel as quickly as possible and promised that the Jewish Agency and the government would do everything possible to facilitate their smooth absorption.
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