Administration Said to Be Concerned over the Number of Soviet Jews Who Are Opting to Come to the U.s

The Reagan Administration is concerned that the percentage of Soviet Jews opting to go to the United States is feeding Soviet propaganda and leading to a clamp down on emigration, a U.S. official said here.

But Ambassador Eugene Douglas, coordinator for Refugee Affairs, told the Leadership Conference of the World Assembly of Jewish War Veterans, that the U.S. could accommodate any Soviet Jews who wanted to come to this country after leaving the Soviet Union. He noted, however, that the Russians claim to be angered that Soviet Jews given visas for Israel, end up in the U.S.

Memie Deshalit, head of the Israeli war veterans delegation, observed that the Soviets use visas to Israel as a means of limiting emigration by other Soviet minorities. Their containment of the other minorities becomes a problem for the Russians when Soviet Jews can come to the U.S., he said.

Replying to a question by Robert Zweiman, National Commander of the Jewish War Veterans of the United States, about U.S. financing of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and the use of that money for Palestine Liberation Organization purposes, Douglas explained that UNRWA is a “UN operation with all that this implies.”

He said that while the U.S. does audit how the funds are spent, such as salaries for teachers, the U.S. cannot control what the teachers are teaching. He said the U.S. is complaining more about anti-Semitic propaganda, but realistically, it cannot stop it.