Zionist Body Yields to Shamir on Soviet Jews

A worldwide conference of Jews, whose backing is crucial for Israel, dropped a resolution Wednesday opposing settlement of Soviet Jews on occupied Arab land after bitter debate and a warning from Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir.

Shamir told the World Zionist Organization that warnings of war over the Soviet Jews are an Arab ruse to sabotage their immigration to Israel.

Moments before Shamir, a champion of Jewish settlement in the occupied territories, addressed the group’s general council, its members argued heatedly over the issue.

Some of the 150 delegates yelled insults at each other over the draft resolution, which in effect called for Soviet Jews to stay away from the occupied West Bank or Gaza Strip.

One of the delegates who proposed the settlement resolution, Hillel Shuval, told Reuters news agency it had been intended as a warning to Israel that the Jewish state might not receive the full backing of world Jewry if it continues with “irresponsible” policies.

Right-wing Likud delegate Matitahu Drobles shouted at Shuval on the council floor: “Where are you going? Aren’t you ashamed? . . . Are we going to repeat the lie over and over that there are places where Jews can’t settle?”

A final vote was postponed until after Shamir’s speech, when the council chairman announced the resolution had been withdrawn. Sources in the delegation that proposed the resolution said they had withdrawn it to avoid further divisive argument.

Also Wednesday, Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip staged a general strike marking the massacre last month of seven Arab laborers by a lone Israeli gunman outside Tel Aviv.

Traffic was sparse, and virtually all shops were closed in response to the strike, Arab reports said.

World Zionist Organization members, traditional supporters of Israel, are being asked to foot much of the bill for settling up to 1 million Soviet Jews in the next five years. The organization has an global membership of 1.2 million.

Shamir described the issue of settlement in the occupied territories, scene of a 31-month-old Palestinian revolt against Israeli rule, as a smoke screen. He said recent threats against Israel by Iraq and Syria have created a dangerous atmosphere.