Speech #850015569

Those who founded this little republic did so with a strong sense of dedication to a causethat of providing a haven for displaced and persecuted Jewsnot only those who survived Nazi pogroms in Central Europe. but also those whose lives and liberties were endangered in other sectors of the world. The first Israeli Knessetparliamentin January 1949 promulgated a Law of Return. This was a pledge that Israel would remain a refuge and home for all Jews who might be under pressure to emigrate from any corner of the earth. This was a formal expression of the prime meaning of Israel: to be a haven where persecuted Jews from every land can live in dignity and freedom. The implementing of this ideal In a small land with few natural resources has created a series of extremely difficult problems. Internal situations in many countries often has borne heavily on Jewish elements whcre these have been distinguishable from the bulk of the population. In some instances. entire segments of the population were dislodged. finding only in Israel a place of refuge. Thus. at the close of World War II nearly all the Jews of Bulgaria emigrated. The same was true of the greater part of the Jewish community in Yugoslavia and tens of thousands in Czechoslovakia and Poland. Others came from all over the Moslem world from Morocco to KurdistanJews whose forebears had been established in those countries for a thousand years. The Jewish communities of Iraq125.000and Yemen46.000departed for Israel almost en masse. This influx threatened to swamp the new state. While adding to the nations manpower in the army and in the factories. many of the immigrants were destitute. many of them were aged and infirm. In the first 4 years 700.000 immigrants more than doubled the original Jewish population in Israel of 650.000. There are few precedents in history for a population movement of this magnitude. Even though the flight from Palestine of large numbers of Arabs had created some space for Jewish refugees. the immigrant flood created almost insuperable emergencies. In the critical shortage of adequate housing. the newcomers lived in caves. in overcrowded slums and in immigrant tent campsadding not only to the economic burdens of the young nation. but to its health and educational problems as well. The continuing problems posed by this merging of diverse groups. even of a common religious faith. have affected every aspect of private life and public planning in Israel. They have called for many kinds of sacrifice on the part of the whole population.