A Jewish Agency official said today that if a peace treaty with Egypt is signed, immigration from Western countries would rise and predicted that 35,000 immigrants would come to Israel next year. Yehuda Dominitz, director general of the Agency’s immigration and absorption department, reported to the World Zionist Organization Executive that an estimated 25,000 immigrants will have arrived by the end of this year, a 21 percent increase over last year.
He noted a slight increase last month when immigration totalled 2552 compared to 2193 in October 1977. He said about half of the immigrants came from the Soviet Union although the drop-out rate is still running at about 60 percent.
Dominitz said the Jewish Agency and the Absorption Ministry are completing plans to absorb thousands of Iranian Jews if the situation in Iran deteriorates. He said that according to latest reports, between 5000-8000 Jews have left Iran in recent months, most of them going to France. He said other Jews who want to leave Iran were delayed because they had difficulty selling their property.
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