Special to JTA Egypt’s Chief Rabbi Now in Paris; Says He Was Forced to Lie to Journalists About Cond

Egypt’s former, and last, Chief Rabbi, Haim Douek, is in Paris after leaving Cairo secretly March 14. in an interview with the Jewish Telegraphic Agency here Rabbi Douek, 68, termed his escape “a miracle.” He warned about the suffering of Jews in Arab countries and revealed how he had been forced to falsify facts in two interviews given to foreign journalists who saw him in Cairo. On the two seder evenings, Rabbi Douek conducted Passover services in a small synagogue in the heart of the old Parisian artists quarter, Montmartre. Hundreds of Jewish immigrants from Egypt flocked to the small, old building, as soon as the news of their rabbi’s arrival reached them.

Rabbi Douek refused to give details about how he was allowed to leave Cairo. Very little is known about international efforts making his departure possible, but Jewish circles here said they believed both the International Red Cross and the French Consulate in Paris had helped. Speaking to the JTA, Rabbi Douek revealed how in June 1967 he had been compelled to misinform journalists of the New York Times and of the French-Tunisian weekly “Jeune Afrique.”

At that time Rabbi Douek had told the journalists that no Jews had been arbitrarily arrested in Egypt during and after the Six-Day War. Later, he stated some Jews had been arrested “for security reasons and in order to protect them.” An inspector of the Interior Ministry had been present at his meeting with the journalists, Rabbi Douek told JTA. He had coached him before the meeting and during the interview sat behind the journalists and directed the Chief Rabbi’s answers “with discreet hand signals,” the rabbi said.

No One To Replace Rabbi In Egypt

Rabbi Douek, who arrived in Paris with his daughters and eldest son, carrying only one small suitcase of clothes, said he had protracted difficulties in obtaining an exit visa. He left behind in Cairo his apartment, with all its furnishings, the rabbi said. He is now living in a small hotel room in Montmarte. Rabbi Douek had little time to take leave of the remnants of the once numerous and flourishing Egyptian-Jewish community. In fact, Cairo’s Jews learned about their rabbi’s departure only a few hours before his Air France flight left Cairo Airport.

Asked what he intended to do, the rabbi told JTA that at 68 he was not making any plans for the future. He would stay in France, at least several months, he said, Concerning the future of Egypt’s Jews, Rabbi Douek said, “nobody will replace me in Egypt,” and that the Alexandria Jewish community would “probably disappear” without a spiritual leader. He said several Jews would probably leave Egypt during the next few years. He said he believed there were still between 450 and 500 Jews in Egypt.

There were 80,000 Jews in Cairo before Israel’s War of Independence in 1948, and 2500 left when the Six-Day War broke out in 1967. Since then some 1500 Jews have been expelled or left voluntarily. There are still two synagogues sporadically open in Cairo and one in Alexandria. Rabbi Douek’s synagogue has been closed. Since May 1971 a “slight liberalization” could be felt in Cairo, Rabbi Douek concluded. He added that Jews in other Arab countries were in a bad way: “The Jews of Syria are more unhappy than we are; they have less liberty, and pressures on them are certainly much stronger.”