10,500 Soviet Jews Arrived in April, Israel Official Says
About 10,500 Soviet Jews arrived in Israel in April, the largest monthly figure since the start of a mass Soviet immigration to the Jewish state last year, an official said Tuesday.
It was the first time Israel had published a figure for Soviet arrivals since early March, when such statistics were censored in response to Arab guerrilla threats to attack immigrants.
Gad Ben Ari, the spokesman for the quasi-governmental Jewish Agency, which is partly responsible for resettling the immigrants, gave the figure for April. He added that Israel’s goal is “to bring the maximum amount of people in the minimum amount of time.”
Before April, the monthly immigration figure for Soviet Jews was between 4,000 and 6,000, Israeli and foreign reports said. In 1989, 12,000 Soviet Jews settled in Israel, and in 1988 only 2,000.
The relaxation in the censorship of immigration statistics appears to be a result of pressure from overseas fund-raisers, particularly those in the United States.
Israeli officials estimate that up to 300,000 Soviet Jews will emigrate to Israel in the next few years. The influx comes because of a loosening of immigration procedures in the Soviet Union and tighter U.S. restrictions.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
