Almogi Outlines Plans to Encourage Aliya. Facilitate Absorption

Yosef Almogi, chairman of the World Zionist Organization Executive and the acting chairman of the Jewish Agency Executive, said today that to increase aliya, he suggests the establishment of “prospects and projects in Israel” that will encourage potential olim and facilitate their absorption into Israeli life.

Addressing a press conference at the Jewish Agency headquarters here, Almogi said his plan will require a few years to implement. He said that while those “prospects and projects” are being prepared, various bodies in the United States will submit the information about them to local Jewish communities.

Addressing himself to the challenges of aliya in the U.S., Almogi said there are difficulties in reaching the academic Jewish community in America. “There are some 60,000 Jewish teachers in American colleges. ” Almogi said, “and as a group we have no dialogue with them.” He said that a special committee of Israeli professors, headed by Israeli President Ephraim Katzir, is in the process of formation now, to seek ways to open “frank dialogues” with Jewish academicians.

Almogi added that another group of American Jewry, “the poor Jews.” has not been reached yet because they are not affiliated with synagogues or other Jewish organizations. He said increased efforts will be launched to reach that segment of American Jewry.

PROBLEM OF BALANCE

Answering queries on the problems of absorbing Soviet academicians, Almogi said that the question of finding proper employment for immigrants with college degrees has become a “major problem.” He contended that there is an “influx” of academicians in Israel and that the Jewish people, which used to be a “nation of merchants, has become a nation of academicians.”

He said the problem is how to balance the needs of the Israeli economy, which is short of laborers, with the high proportion of new immigrants who are white collar workers. Almogi added, however, that most of the Soviet academicians have been absorbed successfully. He noted that to overcome this problem, Israel retrains the new immigrants and said that in the long run the answer will be solved by making the Israeli economy more sophisticated.

Almogi, who is here on a United Jewish Appeal lecture tour, declared in his opening statement that “never in history” was the Jewish people as united as it is now. He said that Jews and Israelis consider themselves part of one nation of 14 million Jews scattered around the world. He said Israelis are confident of the future because they know they are linked with the rest of the Jewish people.

Asked about the increased number of yordim, Israelis who leave Israel, Almogi said Israel tries to minimize yerida but cannot avoid it. He said the yordim are “weak human beings” who should be condemned. But at the same time, he said, he does not see the yordim as “lost people,” and that Israel wants to “bring them back.”