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Aliyah Numbers
Are Up Slightly

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Jerusalem (JTA) — Im-
migration to Israel was up
slightly in May, but a key
Jewish Agency official is
warning that aliyah will
drop sharply if the Rabin
government does not change
the way it absorbs immi-
grants.
Some 6,000 immigrants
arrived in Israel last month,
including 4,910 from the re-
publics of the former Soviet
Union. That was up from
April, when 4,060 arrived
from the republics, but
below the 6,120 who came in
March.
An additional 2,494 Jews
from the republics arrived in
the United States last month
under the government's..
refugee program, according
to the Hebrew Immigrant
Aid Society in New York.
All in all, immigration to
Israel is running slightly
ahead of where it was at this
time last year. A total of
25,430 Jews arrived here
from the former Soviet
Union in the first five mon-
ths of the year, compared to
23,440 who arrived in the
same period last year, accor-
ding to the National Con-
ference on Soviet Jewry in
New York.
But aliyah is still con-
siderably lower than it was
1990 and 1991, when mon-
thly arrivals averaged about
14,000.
Uri Gordon, head of the
Jewish Agency's immigra-
tion department, has come
under sustained attack this
year for the relative im-
migration slump and the
difficulties the new arrivals
are encountering in their
efforts to integrate into
Israeli society.
He lashed back last
weekend in a lengthy inter-
view published in a local
Hebrew newspaper,
Malabus, in which he laid
the blame squarely at the
feet of the Labor govern-
ment. He said its exclusive
emphasis on the peace pro-
cess has led to virtual ne-
glect of the immigrants'
needs.
The Jewish Agency, he
pointed out, is responsible
for bringing the immigrants
to Israel, while the govern-
ment has the obligation to
settle them, mainly by pro-
viding jobs and housing.
He said the Jewish Agen-
cy's mission is being jeopar-
dized by the failure of the

government to do its job. If
"drastic action" is not taken
to improve absorption, he
warned, whatever momen-
tum remains in the flow of
immigrants will stop.
The immigrants from the
former Soviet republics, Mr.
Gordon said, are writing to
their relatives and painting
a bleak picture of Israel that
discourages them from mak-
ing a similar move.
The Labor Party, he
charged, has failed to live up
to its pledge to help the im-
migrants in return for their
support in last June's elec-
tions.
A systematic jobs plan, for
instance, should have been
created in recognition of how
critical jobs are to successful
absorption, he argued. In-

Immigration to
Israel is running
slightly ahead
of where it was
at this time
last year.

stead, the government
waited for the economy to
absorb hundreds of
thousands of immigrants,
meanwhile spending money
on unemployment benefits.
Mr. Gordon also criticized
the government for failing to
educate and sensitize the
Israeli public to the meaning
of the massive aliyah.
Without such education, he
said, the public treats the
immigrants as "enemies and
competition for jobs and
housing, instead of as a
blessing that can help
strengthen Israel" and help
it maintain its Jewish
character.
Absorption Minister Yair
Tsaban, responding in the
newspaper piece to Mr. Gor-
don's charges, joined him in
lamenting the low priority
being assigned by the
government to immigrant
absorption and conceded he
is waging a constant battle.
He said at least a million
Jews are now holding visas
for Israel, awaiting an en-
couraging sign that the
government has a plan for
them once they make the
journey.

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