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Brothers Isai (left) and Grigory (center) Goldstein are greeted by Ya'akov Tsur, absorption minister, at a
reception in their honor after their arrival in Israel.
Isai, Grigory Goldstein tour U.S.;
urge unified effort for Soviet Jews
bv Yitzhak Rabi
NEW YORK (JTA) —Isai and
Grigory Goldstein, two Soviet
Jewish refusniks from Tbilisi who
recently arrived in Israel after being
denied exit visas for more than 14
years, said here that efforts on
behalf of Soviet Jewry in the Uni
ted States must becoordinated and
concentrated to be effective.
The two computer scientists said
in an interview with the Jewish
Telegraphic Agency that they feel
there are “too many organizations,
groups and newspapers” involved
with the campaign to assist Soviet
Jews, and as a result, a lot of effort
and energy is wasted. They sug
gested instead the formation of a
central organization to coordinate
all efforts for Soviet Jewry.
Noting that the Soviet authori
ties are “very sensitive to public
opinion and public pressure in the
United States,” the 48-year-old Isai
Goldstein declared: “It is necessary
to increase the public pressure on
the Soviet Union to enable more
Jews to receive exit visas.
“In my opinion,” he continued,
“the United States should link any
negotiations with the Soviet Union,
Continued from page 1.
Ultra-Orthodox.”
Police estimated the damage to
the synagogue at $6,500.
The leader of the torched syn
agogue is Rabbi Shmuel Cohen,
who was one of those arrested last
week for vandalizing bus shelters.
President Chaim Herzog was
outraged at the attack on the syn
agogue, saying, “Just thinking
about the burning down of a syn
agogue by Jews makes me shudder.
It’s a nightmare Satan himself
couldn’t create.
“It reminds one of other days,
other places and very difficult events
in the history of our people. The
main reason for the establishment
of the State of Israel was to guar
antee that such things would not
and especially the upcoming sum
mit meeting between President
Reagan and (Soviet leader Mik
hail) Gorbachev with the issue of
Soviet jewry.”
But Isai’s brother, 55-year-old
Grigory, said that in addition to
public campaigns, “quiet diplo
macy” should also be used to help
the Jewish dissident movement in
the Soviet Union. “In fact,” Gri
gory said, “we were given permis
sion to leave the Soviet Union after
the intervention of Sen. Edward
Kennedy (D.-Mass.), who urged
Gorbachev to let us go.”
A few days after Kennedy’s
appeal to the Soviet leader, Isai
and Grigory Goldstein were called
to the Ovir, the Soviet visa office,
and were issued an exit visa. On
April 18, they arrived in Israel with
their families.
It was some 14 years earlier, they
recalled, that they applied for an
exit visa to go to the Jewish state.
“Our applications were refused on
the grounds that as computer scien
tists we were in possession of state
secrets,” Isai said. “And the KGB
told us that people like us, who
possess state secrets, cannot leave
the U.S.S.R. for at least five years.”
—Conflict —
happen again.” He made his re
marks on Israel Radio.
Tempers flared in the Knesset
over the issue when Yossi Sarid of
the anti-clerical Citizens Rights
Movement was removed from the
Knesset after a shouting match
with Menahem Porush, a bearded
ultra-Orthodox Knesset deputy
whom Sarid called a "thug” and “a
cossack.”
Porush had announced last week
that he intended to spray paint a
bus shelter ad across from his
home.
Violence continued throughout
the weekend.
More reaction from secular ele
ments occurred this week when
some members of the young lead
ership of the Labor Party donned
the long black coats and hats worn
But even after five years, the
Goldsteins were refused exit visas,
and in 1977, Isai said, “We were
placed on the black list of Soviet
refusniks” who, he charged, “are
used by the Soviet Union as bar
gaining chips in its dealings with
the West.”
While they were waiting for their
visa approvals, the Goldsteins were
subjected to arbitrary arrests and
other forms of harassment. They
said that they were supported by
friends and had a small income.
The two brothers said that the
fact the Soviets let some Jews emi
grate should not distract the public
in the West from the real situation
of Soviet Jews. “Jews in the Soviet
Union continue to be suppressed
and restricted. When the Soviets
release one Jew they immediately
arrest another one,” Isai said. “They
want to keep the balance even.”
Isai, whoismarried and has one
child, and Grigory, who is single,
live in an absorption center in
Ramat Aviv, a suburb of Tel Aviv.
They arrived in the U.S. last month
for a four-week lecture tour under
the sponsorship of several organi
zations on behalf of Soviet Jewry.
by the ultra-Orthodox commun
ity; they then walked down the Tel
Aviv beach and sprayed bikini-clad
bathers with shaving cream-like
foam that was similar to the spray
used by the ultra-Orthodox to
deface the bathing suit ads.
The secular resentment against
the ultra-Orthodox has been
mounting since the spring when-
the religious community pressed
the fight against daylight-saving
time.
The ultra-Orthodox argued that
pushing the clocks forward one
hour would desecrate the Sabbath
and make it difficult to conduct
morning prayers. A compromise
was reached: daylight-saving time
began only on May 17 rather than
in early April which secularists
would have preferred.
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PAGE 19 THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE June 20, 1986