Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 3, 1990 TAG: 9003032595
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times
DATELINE: JERUSALEM LENGTH: Medium
"Completely unnecessary," declared a statement from Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir's office, issued within hours of Baker's comments to a House subcommittee.
As another signal of the Soviet Jewish immigration issue's extreme sensitivity, the Israel Defense Forces clamped new censorship rules on reporting about the subject:
"The IDF censor announces that all material pertaining to immigration of Soviet Jews must be submitted to the censor prior to publication," an army statement said.
The censorship is apparently aimed at restricting news of the monthly figures for immigration from the Soviet Union. Yasha Kazakov, deputy head of the Liaison Bureau, which deals with Soviet immigration, estimated earlier this week that as many as 230,000 Soviet Jews may immigrate this year, up from earlier estimates of about 100,000.
Many politicians here interpreted Baker's remarks as a financial stick to prod the Israeli government into Washington talks on the Palestinian peace process.
Baker told the congressmen that the Bush administration could support a Senate bill to provide $400 million in housing guarantees for a mounting tide of Soviet immigrants if Israel provided "some assurance that it would not be engaging in any new or additional settlement activities" in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip.
U.S. administrations have opposed further Jewish settlements in the Arab-populated occupied territories as "an obstacle to peace" in the Middle East. Baker did not specifically mention resettlement of Soviet immigrants in the territories, but that is the burning issue in the region. Arab governments and the Palestine Liberation Organization have condemned remarks by Shamir that Israel needs to retain the territories to provide land for the newcomers from the Soviet Union.
Baker's comments were splashed across the morning newspapers in Jerusalem.The Labor Party has threatened to quit the national unity government if Shamir's Likud Bloc fails to reach a decision by Wednesday on a combined policy, including proposed trilateral talks in Washington among Baker, Israeli Foreign Minister Moshe Arens and Egyptian Foreign Minister Esmat Abdel Meguid.
"We're coming very close to the time when we will know one way or the other whether we're going to have a chance of succeeding or not," Baker said Thursday.
by CNB