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Issue: October, 1991

AS ISRAEL PREPARES TO PRESENT ITS DEMAND FOR $10 BILLION IN HOUSING LOAN GUARANTEES FROM THE US TAXPAYER, we in the US see or experience the agony of homelessness here caused in part by our government's refusal to provide sufficient money or loan guarantees to develop housing domestically. Is it Israel's intention to provide safe haven to Jews worldwide, as they state, or is it to use any and all immigrants from other lands simply to fill up the Occupied Territories, in order that by the time negotiations are forced at the "land for peace" stage, there will be no Palestinian-occupied land left? For a particularly cogent look at the situation, we look to Frank Collins, a free-lance journalist specializing in the Middle East. Excerpted here is Collins' recent article, originally entitled "As Soviet Jews Seek Other Destinations, Israel Blocks the Exits" which he wrote for the August/September 1991 Washington Monthly Report on Middle East Affairs. We feel it is important to return to this subject for several reasons: because of its centrality to the debate about additional aid to Israel as it continues to act in violation of international law - US law governing foreign aid)the contradictions inherent in supporting racist policies in Israel the likes of which we struggle against mightily in other nations; and the serious economic implications of paying out an astronomical sum for services our own government refuses to provide within its own borders. If you are concerned about the $10 billion giveaway, write to your own Congresspersons to tell them how you feel. They need to hear it, particularly the Democrats. Write to your Senator at U.S. Senate, Washington, DC 20510, or your representative at US House of Representatives, Washington, DC 20515. &emdash; Marianne Torres, Palestine Papers.

Frank Collins, journalist:
The new Soviet law granting passports to all citizens has resulted in an immediate, sharp drop in the huge numbers of Soviet Jewish immigrants arriving in Israel. The previous deluge of immigrants has changed into a mere trickle, perhaps permanently. The flood of Jews leaving the Soviet Union began in 1989 when, in response to pressure from abroad, the Soviet government lifted most restrictions on Jewish emigration.

Deteriorating economic and social conditions in the Soviet Union, which were feared to present a special threat to Jews, gave a tremendous impetus to their newly permitted emigration. At the height of the wave of the emigration, more than 20,000 Jews per month streamed out of the country. Even last February, when SCUD missles were falling, 10,000 Jews arrived in Israel.

All of this halted July 1 when the new Soviet law granting the right to hold passports came into effect. Arrivals at the Tel Aviv airport immediately dropped by 80 percent &emdash; from between 700 and 800 per day to 150 or so.

The new passport law is an historical break with three-quarters of a century of totalitarian denial of the free movement of the Soviet people. Now, in common with Americans and most other peoples, and apart from military service restrictions, Soviet citizens are free to leave, to visit other countries, to immigrate to those countries that will grant them residency, and to return to the Soviet Union with full rights of Soviet citizenship. When the Soviet government originally lifted barriers to Jewish emigration, Jews could leave the Soviet Union only after having obtained visas for Israel. After arriving in Europe for the change of airlines to Tel Aviv, however, roughly 90 percent chose to go elsewhere, mostly to the United States.

The Israeli government and its American supporters moved promptly to close the loophole and staunch the flow of Jewish "drop outs." First, the United States was persuaded to refuse visas to any Soviet Jew who already had a visa to go to Israel. Then the United States put a ceiling or "cap" of 50,000 on the number of Soviet citizens allowed to immigrate into the US each year. Previously, Jews emigrating from the Soviet Union had been admitted to the US as refugees under a higher admissions ceiling.

Throughout the whole period of the mass immigration, the Israeli government campaigned desperately for direct flights from Moscow to Tel Aviv to reduce to zero the possibility of Soviet Jews slipping away to Western countries of their choice. At the same time, Israel has applied pressure to European and other countries not to admit Soviet Jews for residency. When Germany announced that it would admit Jewish emigrants from the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, the Israeli government raised a storm of protest.

In order to encourage immigration to Israel, the Jewish Agency and the Israeli government have offered free passage and transportation of household goods to Israel, together with a basket of benefits covering a year's rent and living costs, payable in cash on arrival. The cash benefits are presently $7,000 for a family of four. Much to the surprise of many of the immigrants, however, the cash benefits may be free but transportation costs turn out to be a repayable loan that will be forgiven only after five years of residence. In short, once in Israel, the Soviet Jews cannot leave.

The indebtedness of the immigrants has been consolidated through a single bank set up for the purpose. Immigrants applying for Israeli passports that would enable them to leave can be confronted the very next day by a representative from the bank demanding full payment of the loan. Without such repayment, the passport is denied. Under these circumstances, only the wealthier of the immigrants are able to pay off their debts and go elsewhere on an Israeli passport.

Will high levels of immigration to Israel be maintained, now that the Jews in the Soviet Union are eligible for Soviet passports that enable them to emigrate to countries other than Israel? The fact that 90 percent of the immigrating Jews dropped out to go to other countries when they could strongly suggests that the answer will be negative. Reports of life in Israel from those who have already immigrated there will surely discourage others.

Before the new Soviet passport law was passed, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir said Israel expected at least one million more Soviet Jewish immigrants. He also estimated that $40 billion would be required to settle one million Soviet Jews. This would amount to $40,000 per Soviet Jew, or $160,000 for a family of four. Shamir talked about raising $10 billion from US-guaranteed private loans, $20 billion in gifts from the 10 million diaspora Jews ($2,000 each) and $10 billion in loans from governments other than the US. The raising of this money would increase the Israeli government's debt to foreign lenders by $20 billion.

This additional dept would be horrendous for the Israelis, who number at best about five million. It would be equivalent to a debt of $32,000 for a family of four, with annual interest, at seven percent, of $2240. This is in a country with a per capita annual income of $6,000. These figures make defaults on the private loans by the Israeli government almost inevitable. Under loan guarantees, the interest and principal on $10 billion of these debts would have to be picked up by the US Treasury.

The mass immigration fulfills a current Zionist political need. That is to settle the occupied territories with Jews, and to claim those territories for the land of Israel. For this reason, Israel is prepared openly to defy the United States, while at the same time demanding US guarantees for private loans of $10 billion for the settlement of the Jews, both immigrant and veteran, in the occupied territories.

The exorbitant costs cited by Shamir of settling one million Soviet Jews contrasts sharply with the American experience in settling one million refugees in the US over the last 11 years. It is $5 billion, or $5,000 per refugee. In short, the American taxpayer would save money by welcoming Soviet Jewish emigrants into the United States, rather than paying the outrageous monetary and political costs of their settlement in Israel. One reason for the eight-fold difference in the cost of settling a refugee in Israel over the cost of the United States is that one million refugees would constitute only 0.4 percent of the US population, in contrast to 20 percent of Israel's population. There are many American niches for one million immigrants to fit into, but almost none in Israel.

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