Deputy Secretary of State Kenneth Rush believes that U.S.-Soviet detente and the Yom Kippur War are, in the long run, for the best as regards Jewish emigration from the USSR and peace in the Middle East. Addressing a meeting here Friday in honor of Jacob Stein, retiring chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, Rush reiterated the Administration view that the best way to assure an end to restrictive Soviet policies on Jewish emigration and other problems was detente.
He insisted that the Administration attitude toward detente “has never implied approval of the Soviet domestic system” and that the U.S. is “not neutral in the cause of liberty.” He added, “We will use our influence to promote freedom in its largest sense,” but “there are, however, limits to our ability.”
Referring to Congressional amendments to the Trade Reform Act that link trade concessions to the USSR with free emigration–measures the Administration opposes–Rush observed that “It is not the goal, nor a question of priorities that is at issue here, it is simply a matter of tactics.” He claimed the Nixon Administration’s policy of “Quiet diplomacy” has achieved substantial successes for Soviet Jews, notably increased emigration and the suspension of the exorbitant exit tax on emigres. Referring to the Middle East, Rush said that the post-Yom Kippur War changes “in both Arab and Israeli perceptions of Middle East realities have produced the best chance yet for peace in the Middle East.”
Rabbi Israel Miller, new chairman of the Presidents Conference, spoke of “huge tasks before us” and called for unity in the American Jewish community to assist Israel.” He presented Stein with a silver menorah on behalf of the Conference. Stein praised the Nixon Administration for its Middle East policies and aid to Israel. “We are for the stand our government has taken,” he said. He said, however, that he did not believe “the Soviets want peace in the Middle East.” If they did they would not re-arm Egypt and Syria, he said. John Scali, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, told the gathering with regard to peace prospects in the Middle East, “It is my belief that the sun is beginning to shine.”
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
