Therefore. it distresses me that Israel has reacted to the efforts of the United States to soften the harsh tone of early drafts of the United Nations resolution on the Temple Mount incident by refusing to cooperate with any United Nation mission to investigate the incident. I am saddened that Israel has rejected. instead of welcomed. the opportunity to present the facts as it sees them. There is no question that the massive influx of Soviet Jewish refugees over the past year has placed enormous strains on Israel. Over 100.000 Soviet refugees have moved to Israel this year. The demand for housing and Jobs for these refugees is enormous. Last spring. the Congress authorized $400 million in loan guarantees so that Israel could borrow $400 million from commercial banks. with the U.S. Government guaranteeing the loans. These loan guarantees were not made available until recently. however. because the administration sought assurances that the money would not be used for new settlement housing in the occupied territories. On October 2. Secretary of State Baker reported that Foreign Minister Levy had confirmed that Israel would not settle immigrants beyond the green line. which demarks Israels preJune 5. 1967 boundaries. Secretary Baker also announced that Israel had agreed to give the United States periodic information about the expansion and financing of Jewish settlements in the occupied territories. I was disappointedas it appears. so. too. was the administrationwhen Prime Minister Shamir announced on October 7 that a new Jewish neighborhood will be built in East Jerusalem and that the Israeli Governments assurances about settlements did not cover East Jerusalem.
Keywords matched
immigrants refugees