8—Friday, August 12, 1966
Israel Enters "War of The Visas"
By ELIAUHU SALPETER
(Chief J.T.A. Correspendent in Israel)
(Copyright, 1966, Jewish Telegraph
Agency, Inc.)
JERUSALEM—Israel is now en-
gaged in a "War of The Visas."
Actually it is more a popular up-
rising, in which the government
wisely chose to fight with the peo-
ple rather than stand on the side-
lines.
Americans, accustomed to the
fact that since the post-war period
dollar-hungry nations in the free
world permit practically free en-
try to anybody presenting a U.S.
passport, probably" do not realize
that this privilege today is not re-
stricted to Americans only. As
•a matter of fact, most Europeans
visiting this side of the Iron Cur-
tain (and even in some Commu-
nist countries) do not need to ob-
tain visas in advance if they come
as tourists but can enter upon pre-
senting their passports, or even
their identity cards. However, un-
til recently, Israelis did not enjoy
this privilege in any foreign coun-
try.
There were two interrelated rea-
sons for this. First, ever since the
;beginning of the'Nazi persecution,
!Jews fleeing for their lives were
knocking at the doors of all and
any country that would let them
u m. (The horrible figure of six mil-
:lion Jewish victims of German
: barbarism is a tragic testimony to
'the largely negative response of
other nations to the plight of would-
be refuges.) This reluctance to let
Jews in freely survived in most of
, those very countries that fought
to destroy Nazi Germany. After
the establishment of Israel, of the
-Jews who immigrated to Israel,
•.many—though by far not so many
'as could reasonably be expected-
' did not succeed in getting fully ab-
;sorbed in the social and economic
. :,life of the new country. Having
'become citizens of Israel they were
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entitled to Israel passports and
with these passports sought to emi-
grate somewhere else. This be-
came yet another factor in other
countries' suspicion toward the
Israel passport.
Those days, however, have pass-
ed. The period of the homeless
Jewish refugee are fortunately
over and Israel ceases to be a way-
station for emigrants, seeking their
way to the West. Without much
fuss, 14 European, Asian
and South American countries have
signed agreements with Israel for
the mutual abolition of the need for
visas for the citizens of one coun-
try visiting the other. These coun-
tries now include Scandinavia and
the Benelux countries. However,
Israel permits the free entry of
tourists from 22 countries and it
is this difference that is the cause
of the present "War of The Visas."
But Israel also lets in freely citi-
zens of the U.S.A., Great Britain,
Canada, France (among others),
while also for Italians and Swiss,
getting an Israel visa is a techni-
cal formality only. Israelis, on
the other hand, must undergo the
full procedure of visa application
if they want to go to any of the
above countries. It just so hap-
pens that relatively few Israelis
spend their vacations in Finland,
Iceland, Luxemburg or the Isle of
St. Helena (where Napolean died
in exile) while most want to visit
England, France, Switzerland and
Italy.
. This Spring, the Israel press be-
gan a campaign demanding that
Israel tourists should be free of
visa requirements in those coun-
tries just like visitors from other
countries which contribute to the
tourist income of the host nations.
(Over 34,000 Israelis visited Eng-
land last year spending there about
$8,000,000, while over 50,000 Is-
raelis visiting Switzerland left
there more than $6,000,000.) Israeli
correspondents obtained and pub-
lished information from local po-
lice authorities that there is prac-
tically no trouble with Israelis mis-
behaving or overstaying—and cer-
tainly far fewer problems than
with visitors from America or West
or North European countries.
The papers also described in de-
tail some of the complicated and
even insulting procedures visa ap-
plicants must undergo. The worst
of all seems to be Britain. British
consulates here require, in addi-
tion to passport and return
tickets, also a letter of recom-
mendation from the employer of
the applicant and very often de-
mand from the tourist that he show
the consulate official that indeed
he has in his wallet cash or travel-
ers cheques sufficient to cover his
expenditures in England! There
were even cases when they de-
manded a letter from the wife to
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ning away from her . . .
Instead of undergoing such pro-
cedures personally, many Israelis
ask a travel agent to arrange their
visas. But, apparently, travel
agents have an even harder time
and last week the Association of
Travel Agents announced that it
would not handle any visa applica-
tions for Britain.
Israel Foreign Minisry officials
were not too eager to enter the
fight. However, under public pres-
sure they have now taken up the
matter and, for the first time, the
demand for the abolition of visas
for Israelis was raised at top level,
in a meeting between Foreign
Minister Abba Eban and British
Ambassador George Hadow.
Though there are no results yet,
it is believed here that if high
level pressure persists, the Israel
passport will sooner or later at-
tain equality with other passports.
Knesset Tightens
Passport Laws
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israel's
passport law was amended by the
Knesset when the house passed on
final reading a provision that
would deny Israeli passports to
Jews who come here for a very
brief stay, then go to other coun-
tries where they register as Is-
raelis.
Under the new law, an immi-
grant to Israel must be in the
country for a year before he can
obtain a passport. Previously, it
was possible for him to get a pass-
port within a week or two after
arriving.
The new passport law would ex-
empt some cases from the provi-
sion for a year's delay. It would
also tighten rules for renewal of
passports by those living abroad.
An official of the Ministry of the
Interior said there are 80,000 to
100,000 holders of Israeli pass-
ports living abroad, and that
about three-quarters of them hold
dual ciitzenship.
Knesset members were told that
in many cases around the world
Israeli passports are being held
merely for convenience. Under the
new law, those living abroad will
have to demonstrate their ties to
Israel at least by visits, even if
only for a short time, in order to
get a passport renewal.
Final passage of the passport .
law was one of several actions
taken by the Knesset as it was
hurrying to adjourn for the sum-
mer.
The Knesset also voted to
authorize one of its standing com-
mittees to probe charges that one
of the country's largest enterprises
has conspired with the. Treasury's
foreign currency division to trans-
fer profits from foreign operations
to Swiss accounts, thus by-passing
Israel income taxes.
The accused firm is the Feder-
man organization, which operates
large hotels in this country and
other enterprises.
At the Knesset session, Levi
Eshkol, in his capacity as Minister
of Defense, proposed streamlining
of personnel in various army de-
partments, saying that such action
would save the government about
1,000,000 Israel pounds annually,
without harming the country's de-
fenses.
Heinrich Kobner, a 19th Century
German-Jewish physician, was a
pioneer in the field of dermatol-
ogy. He made major contributions
to the treatment of exanthema,
mycosis and tuberculosis of the
skin. (JTA)
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
World Conference of Sephardic Jews Meet
(Direct JTA Teletype Wire
to The Jewish News)
BRUSSELS — Sixty representa-
tives from 19 countries, all of
whom had participated in the
plenary assembly of the World
Jewish Congress, held a world con-
ference of Sephardic communities
here, following the closing of the
WJC parley.
States, the other in Israel.
A number of the speakers hailed
the help and encouragement given
to Sephardic communities by the
Jewish Agency organization de-
partment and its head, Zvi Lurie.
In recognition. of those services,
the meeting _elected Lurie as an
"honorary Sephardi."
The delegation decided to call a
World Assembly of Sephardic
Communities not later than the
end of 1968. They also decided to
establish, in addition to the World
Sephardic Center in London, two
regional offices, one in the United
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