BACKGROUND

ROLEX

Israel's Levy Raises Hackles
With Soviet Jewry Comments

LOUIS RAPOPORT

Special to

erusalem — Critics of
the quality of leader-
ship in Israel cite
Deputy Premier and Housing
Minister David Levy as a
prime example of how
demagoguery, blind ambition
and general incompetence are
no impediments to success in
the corridors of power.
Levy, who this week joined
with fellow "hawks" Ariel
Sharon and Yitzhak Modai in
trying to undermine Prime
Minister Shamir's peace in-
itiative and his position as
leader of the Likud, recently
aimed a different kind of
torpedo at another target —
the projected mass immigra-
tion of Soviet Jews to Israel.
His words, expressed before
a group of West Bank settlers
last week, could still set off an
Arab campaign to press
Moscow to halt Jewish
emigration. It also provided
ammunition to those who
wish to see a cutback in U.S.
aid to Israel. An American
embassy official in Tel Aviv
commented, "Our policy on
the settlements is well-known
— they are an impediment to
peace. Fortunately, it was
Levy talking, not the prime
minister."
Washington prohibits use of
U.S. funds — or money col-
lected for Israel in the U.S. by
tax-free organizations — in
the occupied territories. But
in the past, the United States
has turned a blind eye on the
fact that scores of Ethiopian
Jews, for example, were settl-
ed in Kiryat Arba, the Jewish
"upper Hebron." The United
States would come down hard
if thousands of new im-
migrants were directly settl-
ed in the territories.
Levy gave his blessings to
an idea expressed by the set-
tlers, to "adopt" thousands of
Soviet Jewish families ex-
pected to come to Israel over
the next two years and absorb
them in Judea, Samaria and
the Gaza Strip. Later last
week, Levy met with
Seymour Reich, head of the
Conference of Presidents of
Major American Jewish
Organizations, who criticized
his remarks. According to
Levy's spokeswoman, Aliza
Goren, Levy answered that
"the government sends Jews
to live in Judea and Samaria
-- we can't relate to them like
foster children!"
What is so remarkable
about this is the widely

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32

FRIDAY. JULY 7. 1989

The Jewish News

known fact that for years,
David Levy has consistently
been one of the most hostile
ministers toward the new im-
migrants from Russia, block-
ing them at every opportuni-
ty from getting adequate
housing in or around the big
cities — the places where they
can find jobs, and where they
want to live.
The Moroccan-born Levy
has always shown favortism
toward Israelis of North
African origin, while ignor-
ing the needs of Soviet, Ethio-
pian and other immigrants.
At the same time, his own
very large family has profited
greatly from Levy's power in
the Likud, both in politics

David Levy:
Gave Blessings

and in business. But their run
of good luck appeared to be
ending with the ongoing pro-
be of one of Levy's brothers, a
housing contractor.

Natan Sharansky is one of
the many Israelis from the
Soviet Union who was
dismayed by Levy's potential-
ly incendiary statements.
"Levy's remarks were just to
exploit the situation," he told
me this week. "It will be a
real tragedy if people look at
the mass aliyah through par-
ty or other interests. It is too
important to subordinate to
any political cause or-
religious grouping . . . Levy
wanted popularity among the
settlers and didn't know what
damage he was doing to
aliyah — not just in relation
to America's position, but
among Soviet Jews." They
don't want to be cannon
fodder.
Sharansky added that he
was also critical of the Labor
side of the national unity
government, saying that
Shimon Peres and his aides
are unrealistic in wishing to
settle the new immigrants in

the Galilee. "There's no work
there, either."
He said that the vast ma-
jority of immigrants from the
Soviet Union (50,000 to
100,000 are expected to come
to Israel by 1991, with a
similar number going to the
United States and Canada)
want to live in the big cities,
where there are jobs, and
more cultural activity. But
"nothing is really being
done" in preparation for the
great influx, he said.
Sharansky noted that Rus-
sian Jews comprise about 10
percent of the population of
Ariel, the biggest settler town
in Samaria, "but they did not
come there directly." He
characterized Levy's message
as "terrible," a reflection of
the carelessness and
negligence which could cause
Israel "to lose an historic op-
portunity."
"Everything gets bogged
down in factional fighting
and bureaucracy," says
Sharansky. "Almost all the
energy is wasted in the strug-
gle between the Jewish Agen-
cy and the Absorption
Ministry. The immigrants fall
between two stools. It is an
impossible situation."

Hebrew University sovietol-
ogist Mikhail Agursky, one of
Labor leader Shimon Peres's
top advisors on Soviet Jewry,
was also scathing in his
remarks about Levy. "David
Levy has done his best since
1977 to hurt Soviet Jewry.
Fortunately, it doesn't depend
on him . . . I don't think a
more harmful statement
could be made by an Israeli
statesman. It shows total ir-
responsibility and lack of
judgement."
There are a handful of pro-
minent Soviet immigrants
who have decided to settle in
the territories, including
former Prisoner of Zion Yosef
Begun, who now lives and
works in Kiryat Arba. "The
settlers are continuing the
pioneering spirit," he said in
a telephone interview. "I
don't believe in an internal
border, in a Green Line [the
pre-1967 Israel borders].
Eretz Yisrael is Eretz
Yisrael."
Begun, however, agreed
with Sharansky that most
Soviet new immigrants will
want to live in the big cities.
"It's crucial to improve the
situation for the immigrants
who are already here, because
those waiting or wanting to
come are all looking at what
is happening here. They are