U.S., Soviets Weigh Joint Slap at Israel on Settler Policy
The United States and the Soviet Union on Thursday considered a joint condemnation of Israel’s resettlement of Jewish immigrants on the West Bank, a senior Soviet official said.
A half-dozen senior U.S. officials made no mention of the Jewish settlers in a briefing summing up more than seven hours of talks between Secretary of State James A. Baker III and Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard A. Shevardnadze.
However, Gennady I. Gerasimov, the Soviet Foreign Ministry spokesman, said: “It is quite possible that as a result of the Soviet-American talks a common viewpoint will be expressed on this issue, condemning Israel’s attempt to resettle immigrants on someone else’s occupied territory.”
A heavy influx of immigrants into Israel has been caused, in part, by the lowering of Soviet emigration barriers and by limits on how many Soviet Jews the United States is willing to accept.
Gerasimov said the United States had informed the Soviet delegation that the annual U.S. quota would be raised to 60,000 or 70,000. Currently 50,000 Soviet Jews are permitted to enter the United States.
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