Radical Solutions
Needed For Absorption
Jerusalem (JTA) — Declar-
ing that Soviet olim "are
gripped by growing disillu-
sion and despair," immiL
grant activist Natan
Sharansky warned of
"radical solutions" unless
the government quickly
resolves the absorption
crisis.
Mr. Sharansky, who is
president of the Soviet
Jewry Zionist Forum, an
immigrant advocacy group,
accused the Israel govern-
ment of grossly mismanag-
ing the country's de-
teriorating aliyah absorp-
tion process.
"Deepening unemploy-
ment, soaring costs of com-
mercial mortgages and lack
of basic cash to pay for daily
necessities are placing im-
possible strains on Soviet
olim who are gripped by
growing disillusion and
despair," he said.
"Faced with these im-
possible conditions, activist
groups see radical solutions
as increasingly attractive,"
Mr. Sharansky said without
elaborating.
Mr. Sharansky arrived in
Israel to a hero's welcome in
1986 when he was reunited
with his wife, Avital, after
more than nine years in
Soviet prisons and labor
camps.
A fiery advocate of the
rights of Soviet Jews and
dissenters while still in the
Gulag, Mr. Sharansky
brought his gadfly role to
Israel, stinging the au-
thorities whenever he felt
the needs of Soviet olim were
bypassed or poorly handled.
Speaking at a news con-
ference here called to protest
current conditions, Mr.
Sharansky described the
government as a collection of
uncoordinated fiefdoms.
"The government's left
hand doesn't know what its
right hand is doing," he
declared.
"Houses are being built in
the north and south of the
country where no chance of
finding a job exists and no
serious efforts are taken to
create thousands of profes-
sional jobs in areas where
housing does exist.
"Increasingly, aliyah is
becoming a source of social
discontent and Israelis are
blaming Soviet aliyah for
the country's economic
woes," Mr. Sharansky said.
Figures released by the
Absorption Ministry this
week predicted that by
January 1992 some 72,000
Soviet immigrants would
join the ranks of Israel's
unemployed.
That would amount to
about 25 percent of the
360,000 olim who arrived in
the past two years.
But Soviet Jewry Zionist
Forum sources claim the
figure does not account for
hidden unemployment,
which will increase next
year when another 150,000
newcomers are no longer
eligible for the "family ab-
sorption basket."
"The government
is a collection of
uncoordinated
fiefdoms where
the left hand
doesn't know what
its right hand is
doing."
Natan Sharansky
That is a cash subsidy
given every new arrival to
tide them over the first year.
It currently amounts to
about $7,312 per family,
from which they must pay
rent, food bills and other ex-
penses. The subsidy is the
main feature of a direct ab-
sorption program by which
newcomers plunge directly
into Israeli society without a
period of adjustment at an
absorption center.
Yuli Kosharovsky of the
Forum said that of the 9,000
to 10,000 olim arriving each
month, only 40 percent can
cope with direct absorption.
Weaker olim should be
given traditional support to
carry them over, he said. He
called on the government to
initiate the immediate mass
construction of low-rent con-
ventional apartments to end
the financial exploitation of
Soviet olim by landlords.
But unlike some immi-
grant activists, Mr. Sharan-
sky is totally opposed to
creating a Soviet ethnic po-
litical party in Israel. He
said such a move would
divide the nation and con-
stitute a disservice to Soviet
Jewry.
He also rejected mass
demonstrations to call atten-
tion , to the plight of Soviet
olim, but hinted that in the
coming elections Soviet Jews
would vote for whichever
major party demonstrated
its ability to offer practical
solutions to their problems.
He observed that accor-
ding to a recent poll, 80 per-
cent of the 350,000 Soviet
olim eligible to vote said
they would vote.
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