Emanuel Shimoni, the Israel Consul General in Philadelphia, declared yesterday that Soviet Jews who emigrate to the United States are jeopardizing the chances of thousands of other Jews in the USSR of going to Israel.
Shimoni told an international forum at the annual meeting of the B’nai B’rith Middle Atlantic Region at the Concord Hotel that failure of Soviet Jews to go to Israel provides the Soviets with an excuse to close the gates to Jewish emigration still further. He urged Americans not to offer Soviet Jewish emigrants more aid and assistance than they would receive in Israel.
William Korey, national director of B’nai B’rith’s International Council, told the 700 delegates and guests, that a new “pulverization” of Soviet Jews–systematically excluding high school graduates from the universities–will provide greater impetus for emigration. Korey described the new assault on Soviet Jews as one more step in Kremlin policy of wiping Jews from the Soviet consciousness.
Herman Edelsberg, advisor to the International Council, warned on the danger to Israel from the United States role as mediator in the Middle East. “A mediator is concerned primarily with ending an impasse and traditionally accomplishes this by pushing the weak into the arms of the strong, no matter who is right,” he said. He added that sentiment to push Israel into the arms of the Arabs is growing in the U.S. “But what is the use of America’s being number one in the world if it doesn’t serve justice and morality?” he said.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
