Immigrants to Israel

In response to your editorial “How Not to Settle This Issue,” Jan. 31:

The prime minister of Israel, Yitzhak Shamir, clarified remarks he made last month that “a big immigration requires a big Israel.” He said that what he meant was “that in order to absorb a big wave of immigration, Israel must be a strong, united country.”

The government of Israel, by introducing the policy of direct absorption, affirms the right of every immigrant to choose the place in which he or she wishes to live. According to recent Israeli Absorption Ministry statistics, for instance, as of January, 1989, 56% of the new immigrants were settled near and around the metropolis of Tel Aviv, 30% in Haifa and the Galilee, 11% in Jerusalem and 3% in Be’er Sheva and the Negev (the southern part of Israel). Only a half-percent of the 25,000 immigrants (which includes 13,000 from the Soviet Union) who arrived last year reside in settlements in the administrative territories.

ILAN MOR

Consul for Press and Information

Israeli Consulate

Los Angeles