Important developments have taken place during the past few days aimed at resolving the issue of Jewish emigration from the Soviet Union by the time President Nixon visits Moscow for his third summit conference with Soviet leaders beginning June 27. The apparent hope is that Nixon will be able to return from the Russian capital with a solution acceptable to supporters of Jackson/Mills-Vanik legislation that will not adversely effect U.S. – Soviet trade or detente.
The pattern began to emerge with Nixon’s Annapolis speech last Wednesday in which he scored the Jackson Amendment, an obvious diplomatic blandishment preparatory to his Moscow visit; his subsequent meeting with Jewish leaders at the White House in which, according to the participants, he “re-affirmed the continued concern of his Administration” for Soviet Jews; and Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger’s appearance before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Friday in which he confirmed that Jewish emigration from the USSR has declined at least 25 percent so far this year compared to a year ago.
Paralleling these developments were reports that the Nixon Administration is trying to work out a compromise with supporters of the Jackson Amendment that would make U.S. trade benefits to the Soviet Union contingent on the easing of Moscow’s emigration policies. Nixon and Kissinger have made it clear that they regard the legislation already attached by the House to the Trade Act and supported overwhelming in the Senate as an obstacle to improved U.S.-Soviet relations.
PANOVS ALLOWED TO LEAVE
On the Russian side, news came over the weekend that Valery and Galina Panov will finally be permitted to emigrate to Israel, after a struggle of more than two years during which they were dismissed from the Kirov Ballet troupe in Leningrad and subjected to hardship and harassment.
The Panovs had become an international cause celebre. The Soviet announcement that visas are awaiting the two of them — and that they must be out of Russia by this Thursday — was seen as a gesture toward their multitude of friends and supporters in the West on the eve of the summit meeting and a desire to be rid of a source of embarrassment when Nixon is in Moscow.
Kissinger told the Foreign Relations Committee that Jewish departures from the USSR in May were the lowest of any recent month and suggested that part of the reason might be Soviet reaction to Congressional pressure on behalf of the Jackson/Mills-Vanik bills. He conceded that other factors mentioned by some Senators could be responsible for the decline, such as fewer visa applicants and increased Soviet pressure on those who apply. But he added that continued Congressional pressure to tie improved trade conditions to liberalized emigration policies might be a reason.
About 35,000 Jews were permitted to leave the USSR last year. This year, according to Senatorial aides, the rate has been about 21,000 a year. The Intergovernmental Committee on European Migration reported that Jewish departures from Russia to Israel during the first five months of 1974 were one-third less than in the same period of 1973. The figures were 8,473 this year compared to 11,320 a year ago. The ICEM said drop in May was nearly 50 percent.
In view of this situation, Nixon’s speech at the Naval Academy commencement in Annapolis in which he observed that “We cannot gear our foreign policy to the transformation of other societies,” drew sharp responses from several Jewish leaders and organisations.
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