SOVIET JEWRY
A
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Russian 'Israelis' Seek
Attention From 'Home'
CARL ALPERT
Special to The Jewish News
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FRIDAY, MARCH 25, 1988
H
aifa — An amend-
ment added to the
Israeli citizenship law
in 1971 authorized the gran-
ting of citizenship upon re-
quest. This enabled the con-
ferment of Israeli citizenship
upon Jews in the Soviet
Union who made the ap-
propriate request. Today
about 800 Soviet Jews hold
such nationality. They are
proud of their status, and
have even formed an
"Association of Israelis in the
USSR," which carries on a
program of cultural and
education activity.
Increasingly, however, these
Israelis "in exile" have begun
to express unhappiness with
Israel's official attitude to
them. In a letter of complaint,
three of them wrote: "Maybe
by our actions we really bring
in some complications into
the 'big politics: If so, they
must explain it to us honest-
ly and clearly, or say that
they gave us citizenship as a
toy to a crying child, to keep
him busy. But for us and our
imprisoned friends it is not a
toy; it is a banner."
In a recent issue, Shofar, the
magazine of the World Union
of Jewish Students (WUJS)
presents the text of a
telephone conversation with
Boris Chernobilsky and
Leonid Yusefovich, in
Moscow. What was the nature
of their complaints? That the
Israel government does not
take them seriously, gives
them no help and does not
even answer their letters.
From Evgeny Tsirlin,
himself one of these Israeli
citizens abroad, but now
already in Israel, we learned
more details.
As indication of their
citizenship they receive a
very ordinary certificate
which carries no picture of
the citizen and makes no im-
pression. Why can't they get
a formal passport, they want
to know.
One of them, Boris Cher-
nobilsky, through Israeli
lawyers, petitioned the
Ministry of the Interior to
issue him a passport, as an
Israeli citizen. The ministry
refused, on several grounds:
for fear of disturbing the
delicate relations between
Irael and the USSR; for fear
of causing harm to the reci-
pient of the passport, and
because of the impossibility of
complying with the pro-
cedures in the submitting of
a request and verifying
information.
Chernobilsky, who has been
a refusenik for 12 years, felt
this was a violation of his
rights as an Israeli citizen,
and he had his lawyers file a
suit in Israel's High Court of
Justice. With court approval,
the matter was settled by
compromise without a trial.
The ministry agreed to issue
a passport for each member of
the family, and did so. The
originals of the passports
were retained in Jerusalem,
in the custody of their
lawyers, but they received cer-
tified copies — all of this not
to constitute a precedent.
The Russian Israelis claim
that they have written
repeated letters to the prime
minister of Israel and to the
foreign minister.
LOCAL NEWS 1
Bar Ilan Prof Due
Here For Special Event
Dean Gould and Arthur
Liss will chair a major new
prospects event on behalf of
Bar-Ilan University to be held
April 14 at 7:45 p.m. at the
main United Hebrew Schools
building.
The guest speaker will be
Dr. Arie Rimrnerman of Bar-
Ilan's School of Social Work.
Dr. Rimmerman will speak
on "Jewish Identity from
Generation to Generation:
How to Guarantee a Jewish
Grandchild."
Dr. Rimmerman currently
is chairman of the Israel
Association for the Scientific
Study of Mental Retardation;
Amgar, the Association to
Promote Foster Care for the
Mentally Retarded; and is a
member of the Israel/United
States Bi-National Commit-
tee on Rehabilitation. He is
the recipient of the Liman
Award, an award for major
scientific contributions in the
area of developmental
disabilities; is a Fulbright
scholar, and received the
Hutner award from the Bar-
Ilan University School of
Social Work. He has publish-
ed extensively.
Admission is free, and
refreshments will be served.