Three more Soviet Jews have appealed to Israeli leaders for help in securing their right to emigrate to Israel. Letters from three Jews in Moscow were received recently by President Zalman Shazar and Premier Golda Meir, it was disclosed today. Copies have been forwarded to the United Nations Human Rights Commission. The writers claimed that between them they have sent 88 letters to Soviet leaders, including Premier Aleksei N. Kosygin and Communist Party Secretary Leonid Brezhnev, asking for exit permits. In each case, they said, the reply was a refusal given by Soviet officials orally, never in writing.
Premier Golda Meir said in Eilat today that she “truly believes” Jews now in Russia will come to Israel “in their tens of thousands because no regime on earth can erase from Jews their affinity to Israel.” Mrs. Meir spoke at celebrations marking the 21st anniversary of the liberation of Eilat in Israel’s war for independence. Foreign Minister Abba Eban told the Knesset today that many of the 18 Jewish heads of families in the Soviet Georgian Republic who signed a letter to the United Nations appealing for emigration aid have lost their jobs. The letter gave the signers’ full names, addresses and occupations. Since it was made public many have lost their means of livelihood and exhausted their savings but they are still determined to come to Israel, Mr. Eban said.
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