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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Office of Public Information JEWISH C0UNCIL FOR PUBLIC AFFAIRS URGES NETANYAHU AND BARAK TO EXPEDITE IMMIGRATION OF QUARA JEWS TO ISRAEL JCPA Passes Resolution Calling On New Israeli Leaders to Set Immigration of Ethiopian Jews as High Priority San Francisco, CA -- June, 14, 1999-- At their Board of Directors meeting today, the New York-based Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA) passed a resolution calling on Prime Minister Netanyahu and Prime Minister-elect Barak to expeditiously bring the remaining 3000-3500 Quara Jews in Ethiopia to Israel. JCPA Chair Steven Schwarz said, "The JCPA is deeply concerned that thousands of Jews from Quara continue to languish in Ethiopia, despite commitments by Israeli government officials in November 1988 to hasten their aliyah." While the right of these Quara Jews to immigrate to Israel under the Law of Return has been firmly established, the movement to expedite their departure has been, until now, disappointingly slow. In part as a result of pressure by the American Jewish community, Prime Minister-elect Barak met with Prime Minister Netanyahu and other members of Knesset last week to discuss ways in which to make the process more efficient. Barak has pledged to bring an average of 600 people to Israel each month. The JCPA remains hopeful that Barak will continue his efforts to efficiently and effectively bring the Quara Jews to Israel by the end of the year. ###
The Jewish Council for Public Affairs is the public affairs body of the organized Jewish community and serves as the national coordinating and advisory body for the 13 national and 122 community agencies which comprise the field of Jewish community relations. |
