Stipulation of Fulbright Scholarship : Couple Fighting Wife’s Forced Return to Israel

Smadar Lavie and Forest Rouse have spent the first two years of their marriage fighting--not with each other, but against the U.S. government.

The couple has been trying to get a waiver of Lavie’s Fulbright scholarship stipulation that requires her to return to her native Israel for two years upon completion of her doctorate in cultural anthropology at UC Berkeley.

The couple says two years in Israel would be detrimental to Rouse’s career as a particle physicist, but the U.S. Information Agency, which gives the final word on Fulbright waivers, does not agree.

Research Planned

Rouse, who was born in Pasadena, plans to complete his doctorate in December and then begin research using a linear accelerator. There are only a few linear accelerators in the world and none in Israel.

But the USIA’s decision against a waiver will force him to change his plans, unless he and Lavie can successfully appeal.

Lavie, 31, said she first learned of the two-year home residency requirement when she applied for permanent U.S. residency after marrying Rouse in October, 1983. Since then, Lavie and Rouse, 30, have tried everything “within the system” to get the stipulation waived. They have contacted congressmen, the Immigration and Naturalization Service, the Israeli government and the USIA.

Lavie said she never applied for the $1,500 Fulbright scholarship, which paid her round-trip travel expenses. She was offered the travel scholarship in 1979 by an official of the Israeli American Cultural Foundation in Israel after she had already secured funds to pay her educational expenses at Berkeley.

She said she was “in my innocent Israeli stage at that time,” signed the Fulbright scholarship papers without reading them and was never verbally informed of the stipulation that she return to Israel. She assumed the grant was from a private donor, not the U.S. government.

“I thought Fulbright was some Jewish guy,” she said.

Named after the late U.S. Sen. J. William Fulbright of Arkansas, the scholarships provide U.S. government-sponsored international exchange of graduate students. The grants usually pay for round-trip transportation, tuition, books and health and accident insurance for American students in other countries and for foreign students in the United States.

Having to abide by the two-year home residency stipulation would not only be a hardship to Rouse’s career, Lavie said, but the couple would face many difficulties in Israel because Rouse is not Jewish.

‘Be Able to Survive’

“We’d be able to survive, but it wouldn’t be the best situation,” Rouse said.

For example, non-Jews cannot be labor union members, meaning they are not eligible for benefits such as supplemental income for a car and insurance, Lavie said. She also fears being discriminated against when she applies for a job because she is not married to a Jew and because Rouse is black.

But it will be easier for both of them if Lavie informs the Israeli government that she is bringing Rouse before they leave the United States and if they live in a “more liberal” city such as Tel Aviv, said Natan Hatzvi, Israeli consul of economic affairs in Los Angeles.

Although they might have difficulty finding work, it will not be because Rouse is not Jewish, Hatzvi said.

“It’s not easy for even a Jewish guy to come to Israel and get a job,” Hatzvi said.

Rouse could probably be a teacher at an American school in Israel, Hatzvi said.

Lavie and Rouse believe that they should not even have to consider going to Israel and that they are just being used as examples to foreigners who marry American citizens to gain permanent residence in the United States.

But Richard Fruchterman, USIA assistant general counsel, said he is going to stick by his decision to not recommend a waiver for the home residency requirement.

“We’re not using anybody as an example because there are literally hundreds of other cases in which we have declined to make a favorable recommendation for a waiver,” Fruchterman said in a telephone interview from Washington.

Letters of Support

Fruchterman said the Rouses are not a hardship case because there are “many opportunities for study in his (Rouse’s) field in Israel.” Rouse said Fruchterman seems to be ignoring the letters from his physics professors, including a Nobel laureate, that state both Rouse’s career and the advancement of particle physics will be damaged if he is forced to go to Israel for two years.

Lavie said if she and Rouse have to go to Israel, they may end up on a kibbutz picking tomatoes.

Fruchterman contends that if Rouse needs to remain in the United States, the couple’s marriage could survive the two-year separation.

“This is not a terrible infliction these people have,” Fruchterman said, adding that they could visit each other.

Lavie and Rouse are trying to get the USIA’s attention through public appeal. They have approached 100 news organizations with a one-inch-thick press packet.

Since the couple’s story began appearing in the press, Fruchterman said he has received 14 letters regarding the case, running 8 to 6 in favor of the USIA’s action.

Not Inclined to Change

But even if there is public outcry on the couple’s side, the USIA is not inclined to change its position, he said.

“We believe we’re interpreting the law as Congress intended us to,” Fruchterman said.

Meanwhile, Lavie and Rouse keep fighting. A lawsuit will be their last resort.

And if that fails?

“We’ll go to Israel,” Rouse said reluctantly. Separation is not even a consideration.

“Basically we’re going to bag our careers,” Lavie said.