Soviet Jews Visiting Israel
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GENEVA — As many as 10,000 Soviet Jews were allowed to visit relatives in Israel last year in a wave inspired by Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev’s policy of more openness, it was reported Wednesday.
Arrivals began last spring and “in 1988 we figure there were between 8,000 and 10,000 who visited,” said Rabbi Richard Hirsch, executive director of the World Union for Progressive Judaism, a private lobby.
He said that even more Soviet Jews could visit this year. “We consider this a harbinger of better times,” said Hirsch.
The Soviets, many of whom travel on tickets paid for by kin in Israel, have tourist visas and stay as long as three months.
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