Sovietish Heimland Editorial Charges Israel Spearheading Anti-soviet Campaign

The January issue of Sovietish Heimland, which is published with the approval of and under the jurisdiction of the Soviet government as the only Yiddish magazine in the USSR, contains an editorial charge that the Israeli government as spearheading a “shameful” campaign of anti-Soviet “slander.” The magazine, edited by Aaron Vergelis, declares that ” It is now clear that not only the Israeli reactionary press, radio and television but also the government of Israel itself have joined in the new anti-Soviet campaign.” That, it continues, ” means that anti-Sovietism is now the established policy of the government of Israel, and that the Israeli Cabinet is the coordinating body for actions against the Soviet Union and the shameful activities of various commissions and committees set up for the express purpose of an anti-Soviet drive.” The editorial observes that ” It is hard to believe that an unprecedented slander campaign against another state, a great power is run on the basis of lies and insinuations by the leaders of Israel.” It further commented: ” Mrs. (Golda) Meir has branded the Soviet Union as the enemy of the State of Israel and the Jewish people. The provocative Zionist slogan ‘Let my people go’ has become the keynote of anti-Soviet propaganda.” Vergelis was criticized by the World Jewish Congress earlier this week for his recent comments in Geneva that the publication of his magazine proved the existence of Jewish cultural freedom in the USSR and that anti-Semitism existed in the USSR “as it does anywhere in the world where Jews live.” In addition, Jerry Goodman of the American Jewish Committee in New York said the publication of the magazine was “welcome” but that it was only a partial answered, a token.