Special Interview Tzur: Israel Must Demand That Soviet Jewish Emigration Be Part of U.S. Soviet Talk

Yaacov Tzur, the Minister of Immigration and Absorption, believes that Israel must demand that freedom of exit for Soviet Jews be part of any negotiations between the United States and the Soviet Union for the renewal of detente.

In a special interview with the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Tzur said the Soviets themselves see the Jewish problem as part of their overall relations with the West and if Soviet Jews are to be helped, cognizance must be taken of this view in talks between the superpowers.

Tzur flatly rejected the contention of Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko that every Russian Jew who wanted to emigrate has done so. Gromyko made that argument at his meeting with Israeli Foreign Minister Yitzhak Shamir at the United Nations General Assembly in New York in September.

“This is simply untrue,” Tzur declared. “Out of the 600,000 affidavits which have been submitted, there are still 400,000 Jews who have not received a favorable response.”

CITES STEADY DECLINE OF EMIGRATION

Tzur cited the steady decline of Soviet Jewish emigration since 1980. In that year, some 21,000 Jews left. In 1981, the number was 9,400; in 1982, 2,600; in 1983 only 1,300. And this year, only a few hundred Jews were able to leave.

Tzur blamed the high drop-out rate among Soviet Jewish emigres for the “closing of the gates.” He said when Jews do not come to Israel, they lose the basis of repatriation. The Absorption Minister said HIAS and the U.S. government were responsible because they give the emigres refugee status, whereas they were allowed to leave the Soviet Union on the basis of reuniting with their families in Israel.

But Tzur conceded that it would be difficult to convince HIAS and the U.S. to withold assistance to the emigres. “After all, one must admit that the exit of Soviet Jews anywhere is a positive development because anywhere else they will be able to live better,” he said.