A number of Turkish Jews who have returned here from Israel reported today that about 1,000 other Turkish Jews have applied to the Israeli authorities for exit permits in order to return to Turkey.
The immigrants who have returned here complain of the difficulty in obtaining suitable employment in Israel, the shortages of food and lack of housing and the alleged discrimination of the Israeli authorities against Sephardic Jews in favor of the Ashkenazic Jews. The returnees also say that Turkish Jews are unwilling to settle on the land in Israel, adding that those who originally come from the provinces adapt themselves better to life in Israel than Jews from Istanbul.
Meanwhile, it has been noted here that a number of immigrants who returned from Israel have found it impossible to start life anew and have set out once again for the Jewish State. It is estimated that about 2,800 of the 34,000 Turkish Jews who left for Israel in the past three years have returned–mostly in recent months.
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