Soviet Diplomat Says Israel Trying to Create U.s.-ussr Rift; Embassy Rejects Petition

A high ranking Soviet diplomat told Pennsylvania’s Sen. Richard S. Schweiker today that Israel was trying to create a rift between Washington and Moscow and that the anti-Soviet campaign based on the alleged mistreatment of Jews in Russia emanated from Israel. Sen. Schweiker, a democrat, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency of his conversation this morning with Yuli Vorontsov, the Charge d’Affairs at the Soviet Embassy who is the Embassy’s highest ranking officer in Vorontsov, the Charge d’Affairs at the Soviet Embassy who is the Embassy’s highest ranking officer in the absence of Ambassador Anatoly F. Dobrynin, who is in Moscow conferring with Soviet leaders. Sen. Schweiker said he visited the Embassy before the delivery of a petition signed by 20,000 Philadelphians of all faiths urging emigration rights for Soviet Jews and the release of Russian Jews recently sentenced to prison terms or facing trial. When the petition was delivered by a three man delegation, the diplomatic duty officer refused to accept it and threatened to call the police if it was left on a table in the Embassy hall. Yesterday, the press counselor of the Embassy refused to accept a similar petition signed by 700 American scientists of the National Institute of Health, Catholic University and the University of Maryland.

Sen. Schweiker said Verontsov told him that the anti-Soviet campaign stemming from the Leningrad trial last month was “trumped up” in Israel and in the U.S. He insisted that the Leningrad defendants were tried for attempting to hijack a Soviet airliner and the fact that they were Jewish had nothing to do with the case. He said Israel wanted to stir up trouble between the United and the Soviet Union in order to delay a peace settlement in the Middle East. He also said that Israel was pressing for Jewish emigration from Russia because it needs manpower. The delegation that visited the Embassy after Sen. Schweiker left consisted of Rabbi Sidney Greenberg, chairman of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Philadelphia; Rabbi S. Joseph Teichman, chairman of the Philadelphia Board of Rabbis’ Soviet Jewry committee; and Malcolm Hoenlein, director of the Philadelphia JCRC. They were received by the duty officer who gave his name as Lisan and talked to them for about 20 minutes.

Lisan parried their questions about Jewish emigration rights by observing that Russia had friendly relations with the Arab states and didn’t want to “harass them,” presumably by permitting large numbers of Soviet Jews to go to Israel. He said there were no Hebrew schools in Moscow, which has a Jewish population of 500,000, because it was not possible to have schools for every nationality. He said he would not accept their petition and if they left it he would “call the policeman outside.” Rabbi Greenberg said later that the petition would be mailed to the Embassy. Sen. Schweiker said that during his conversation with Verontsov, the Russian told him that about 900 Jews left Russia “recently” through normal channels but did not say over what period. He admitted that sometimes there were “bureaucratic delays” but insisted that the bulk of Russian Jews do not want to leave, Schweiker said.