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Soviet Jews arrived in Israel in record numbers — at least 150,000 are expected this year — sparking enthusiasm for future prosperity. In the meantime, there were serious economic
problems regarding housing and employment.

The Greatest Exodus Since Biblical Egypt

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n any given day, more Jews
arrive now in Israel from the
Soviet Union than arrived
during a two year period a
decade ago.
The great exodus that American
and Israeli Jews had been lobbying for,
protesting for and praying for over
the last 20 years is now a reality.
And with that reality has come a
hope for future prosperity — and
some very serious immediate prob-
lems. More than 83,000 Jews arrived
in Israel from the USSR in the first
seven months of 1990, and the
estimates, which continue to in-
crease, are that 150,000 will be in
Israel by year's end. And those
numbers may continue for at least
the next five years.
The combination of Soviet
glasnost, fear of anti-Semitism and
American limitations on accepting

48

FRIDAY. SEPTEMBER 21. 1990

refugees has focused the influx on
the State of Israel, which for the
most part has accepted the new-
comers with heartfelt emotion — and
inadequate absorption.
In fact, despite constant calls for
new housing units to be built or im-
ported, and claims by the Jewish
Agency that 30,000 units are in the
works, not one unit had been com-
pleted until this summer.
The positive side of what is being
called the greatest Jewish exodus
since Biblical Egypt is the sheer
volume of its scope and the human
drama of men, women and children
beginning new lives in a Jewish state
desperate for more Jews.
The problematic side deals with
practical questions like how can
Israel provide housing and employ-
ment for hundreds of thousands of
newcomers, how can the economy

take it, who will bear the burdens
and at what price?
World Jewry undertook an extraor-
dinary monetary campaign, Opera-
tion Exodus, to help pay for the
resettlement, but the costs will reach
billions of dollars. And while many
Israelis displayed an unprecedented
level of volunteerism — tens of
thousands, for instance, opened their
homes to the newcomers for Passover
seders — the underprivileged in
Israeli society lashed out at govern-
ment . spending at what they con-
sidered their expense.
Sephardic groups in particular
spoke out about being left out. And
hundreds of Israeli families set up
tent cities in protest of increased
rents that accommodated the Soviet
newcomers at the expense of Israelis
who could not afford the new prices.
There were also political problems.

The United States has delayed a
$400 million housing loan request
until it receives assurances from
Israel that the new immigrants will
not be settled on the West Bank.
The Soviet Union reneged on a
promise of direct flights to Israel,
but several East European countries
have allowed the exodus to continue.
In Israel, Ariel Sharon is employing
all of his forceful personality as
Housing Minister to deal with
government and industry
bureaucracy.
But the exodus continues
unabated, fueled by fear and unrest
among Jews in the Soviet Union and
a sense of historical destiny. The
Jewish world stands poised on the
brink of great change. The rhetoric
of the Zionist dream is being tested
to the limit. It could become a
nightmare. Or a dream fulfilled.

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