The Jewish Agency has drafted a plan to transfer 90,000 immigrants to Israel from October 1,1950, to March 31, 1951, Itzhak Raphael, Agency immigration chief, revealed today at a press conference. Of this total, 80,000 Jews are expected to be brought to the Jewish state from Poland, Rumania, Iraq and Iran while the remainder will come from a total of 48 other countries.
Reporting on the present immigration picture, Mr. Raphael disclosed that only 5,000 Jews are now left in Czechoslovakia and “there are no prospects for their imminent emigration.” Since December of last year, 24,000 Polish Jews have arrived in Israel, he asserted. Some 4,500 Polish Jews have registered for transfer to the Jewish state, of whom 600 have been denied exit permits by the Polish Government, he added.
On the other hand, he reported, 500 of the Polish Jews who registered for emigration to Israel withdrew their applications at the last moment, because of “atrocity” reports and propaganda being circulated by the Jewish section of the Communist Party in Poland.
Over 45,000 Jews from Rumania have arrived in Israel since November, 1949, the Agency official said. As for Hungary, Mr. Raphael stated that the “future of Hungarian Jewish emigration is still veiled.” The forthcoming November plenary session of the Jewish Agency executive–to be held in New York–will have to decide the financing and “tempo” of continued Jewish immigration to Israel, he concluded.
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