Soviet-Israeli Talks End in 90 Mins. : 1st Official Meeting in 19 Years Breaks Down on Emigration

The Soviet Union and Israel held their first official talks in 19 years today, but the negotiations broke down after 90 minutes, apparently over the issue of Jewish emigration from the Soviet Union.

The talks between middle-ranking Soviet and Israeli officials had been designed to pave the way for the restoration of consular relations between the two countries and had been scheduled to last two days.

But 90 minutes after the talks began, they ended.

“We met for an hour and a half. . . . We decided that we will not have any further meetings here in Helsinki,” Ehud Gol, an Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman, told a news conference.

The diplomat denied that the talks had failed, saying the two sides agreed to continue contacts through “proper diplomatic channels.” Israel and the Soviet Union may send delegations to each other’s capitals for further discussions, he said.

The Soviet delegation did not brief reporters after the meeting. But in Moscow, Soviet government spokesman Gennady Gerasimov indicated that the meeting broke up because the Israeli delegation raised the issue of Jewish emigration from the Soviet Union.

‘Change of Agenda’

The question of Soviet Jewry was “not on the agenda,” Gerasimov said. “If Israel introduced this question, that obviously means a change of agenda.”

Gol told reporters that the two sides entered the talks in a Finnish government office without a fixed agenda.

In the talks, Gol said the four-member Israeli delegation raised the question of Soviet Jewish emigration to Israel.

The Soviets, Gol said, brought up the issue of consular affairs with a statement about possibly setting up a Soviet section in the Finnish Embassy in Tel Aviv. They also discussed the status of Russian Orthodox Church properties in Israel and the occupied Arab territories.

Gol said the two-man Soviet delegation did not comment on the Jewish emigration issue. Israel estimates that about 400,000 Soviet Jews have been barred from emigrating to Israel, and the number of Jews allowed to leave in recent months has been low.

The Israeli government has been criticized by human rights groups at home for not insisting on a Soviet promise to discuss Soviet Jewry before going into the talks.

‘Candid and Concrete’

“We presented our position to them very clearly and . . . expect them to deliver that message to the leadership of the Soviet Union,” Gol said. He described the nature of the talks as “candid and concrete.”

The Soviet Union broke off relations with Israel during the 1967 Six-Day War when Moscow threw its support behind the Arab states. The Dutch Embassy represents Israel in Moscow, and the Finnish Embassy represents the Soviet Union in Israel.

Moscow has said it will not resume full diplomatic relations with Israel until Israel returns all lands captured from its Arab neighbors during the 1967 war.

But observers in Jerusalem believe that Moscow’s long-term goal in resuming contacts with Israel is to restore full diplomatic ties with Tel Aviv so as to come on equal footing with Washington in Middle East diplomacy.