Pinhas Sapir said today that emigration from the Soviet Union dropped by 50 percent this year and reported a decline of as much as two-thirds from other countries. He attributed the decline to the “situation” In Israel. apparently meaning the economic crisis, and. at least in part to the threatening military situation in the Middle East.
Sapir returned here today from a five-week tour to Britain. France and the U.S. during which he dealt mainly with aliya problems and United Jewish Appeal matters. The chairman of the Jewish Agency and World Zionist Organization Executives visited 32 American cities. He said he expected aliya from the U.S. to reach 20.000 a year which he described as “not a large number…only a very small percentage of American Jewry.” Last year’s aliya from the U.S. was 4000.
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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.