I NEWS I
Jewish Emigres Pouring
Into Israel, Germany
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52
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 28, 1990
Thanks for your support.
Tel Aviv (JTA) — Alarmed
at mounting chaos in their
homeland, thousands of
Jews have left the Soviet
Union in recent days and are
arriving in Israel in record
numbers.
More than 5,500 landed at
Ben-Gurion Airport from the
evening of Dec. 20 through
the morning of Dec. 23, and
the weekend total was ex-
pected to exceed 7,000 by
that evening.
Soviet Jewish emigres are
also arriving in Berlin in
much larger numbers, but
the totals are small by corn-
parison with the immigra-
tion to Israel.
About 300 arrived in
Berlin over the course of
three days late last week.
They have been coming at
the rate of 100 a week for the
past month, according to
Matthias Jahr, director of
the office in former East
Berlin that counsels and
helps Soviet Jews.
But the situation is very
bad, Mr. Jahr said, because
Berlin cannot provide ac-
commodations for the
newcomers.
More than 2,000 Soviet
Jews have arrived since May
seeking residence permits.
Mr. Jahr said the number of
refugees has increased
sharply because of the
debate in Germany over
whether to absorb Soviet
Jews and how many.
The prime ministers of the
16 federal states that com-
prise unified Germany met
to discuss the matter last
week. Max Streibl of
Bavaria said they agreed "to
accept a considerable
number of Soviet Jews over
a period of several years."
Some press reports said
the most likely ceiling was
1,000 a year.
The Jewish community is
lobbying hard for free im-
migration for Soviet Jews
and has political support
from the opposition SPD, or
Social Democratic Party.
More than 150,000 Soviet
Jews have gone to Israel
since January to escape anti-
Semitism and growing polit-
ical and economic problems
in the Soviet Union.
But a persistent minority
of Soviet Jewish emigres feel
Germany offers greater po-
litical and economic stabili-
ty.
In Israel, the arrival rate
at Ben-Gurion is about 100
an hour. Chartered El Al
planes and aircraft of the
Polish and Hungarian
airlines are bringing the
olim in from Warsaw,
Budapest and Bucharest,
Romania.
The immigrants are re-
quired to change planes at
those points because there
are still no direct flights to
Israel from Moscow.
Simcha Dinitz, chairman
of the Jewish Agency for
Israel, which pays the cost of
transporting the immi-
grants, predicted that bet-
ween 1,200 and 1,300 immi-
grants will be arriving daily
from now on.
By comparison, 1,909
Soviet Jews arrived in Israel
in all of 1987, and only 220
arrived during the entire
previous year.
Soviet Jewish immigration
for December is expected to
exceed 30,000 and rise to
40,000 in January, as econ-
omic deterioration and polit-
ical uncertainty grip the
Soviet Union. By com-
parison, just under 5,000
Soviet Jews arrived in Israel
last January.
The flood of arrivals is
placing a severe strain on
Israel's economic and social
fabric.
One of the most serious
challenges is housing the
newcomers. A container ship
arrived at the port of Ashdod
with 441 American-built
mobile homes, the first con-
signment of temporary hous-
ing to reach Israel from the
United States.
Each unit is 40 feet long
and contains 144 square feet
of living space. Another
3,000 of the same kind are
due in Israel next month,
and 50,000 smaller units
will be imported next year.
But they may not be
enough to keep pace with
immigration, and tent cities
may have to be set up.
Drop In Tourism
Costs Millions
Jerusalem (JTA) — The
drop in tourism to Israel
caused by the Persian Gulf
crisis has cost the Jewish
state $750 million in lost
revenue this year, Tourism
Minister Gideon Patt recent-
ly told a world conference of
Jewish National Fund
leaders meeting here.
Leaders of the tourism in-
dustry held a news con-
ference Dec. 19 at which
they estimated a cumulative
loss of $750 million to hotels,
shops and tour companies as
a result of the Gulf crisis,
which capped three bad
years due to the intifada.