Jews Ready to Leave Ex-Soviet Cities, Poll Says
Ninety percent of Jews living in six large cities in the Commonwealth of Independent States want to leave, Russian Television said over the weekend.
It said a survey conducted among Jewish communities in the six cities showed that nine out of 10 are ready to depart, despite fears about where they would find work.
It said the opinion poll, conducted by Israel’s semiofficial Jewish Agency, suggested that emigration to Israel from Commonwealth nations would increase next year.
More than 400,000 people have moved to Israel from the former Soviet Union since late 1989. But the exodus has slowed this year amid rising Israeli unemployment and a shortage of jobs for qualified workers.
Israeli immigration officials said earlier this year that 37,000 former Soviet Jews moved to the United States and Germany in the first half of 1992, while 30,000 moved to Israel.
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