Abram Gloomy About Soviet Jewry After Reagan-Gorbachev Summit

Morris Abram, chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, expressed Wednesday a gloomy outlook for Jewish emigration from the Soviet Union once the expected summit is held between President Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.

Abram, who is also chairman of the National Conference on Soviet Jewry, explained to reporters at the National Press Club here, that while "improvements" have been made for longtime refuseniks, the conditions for most Jews wanting to leave have been made tougher.

At the same time, he said he believed the Soviet Jewry movement will be successful in the long run because of American public opinion and pressure, not only from the Reagan Administration, but also from such West European governments as France and Britain.

Abram spoke as Secretary of State George Shultz began his second day of talks here with Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze. Human rights was a major topic at the opening session Tuesday and Shultz said that he was "encouraged" that progress could be made. A working group on human rights was meeting Wednesday.

SEEKING A COMMITMENT FROM THE USSR

However, neither Shultz nor his spokesman, Charles Redman, would give any explanation of why the Secretary was encouraged. Shultz indicated that the United States was seeking a commitment from the Soviets that a "systematic" approach to emigration would be created by the Soviets in which there would no longer be arbitrary decisions in which one person is allowed to leave and another is refused.

At the same time, the Administration is expected to continue during the present talks to give the Soviets lists of particular individuals who should be allowed to emigrate.

Abram said that most of the longtime refuseniks will be allowed to emigrate in the Soviet effort to get a summit meeting. He noted that one reason is to decimate the leadership of the emigration movement in an effort to end it.

But he said once a summit is held he expects the Soviets to crack down on the emigration movement by using the harsh methods already introduced by Gorbachev. This includes the new law making it more difficult to apply for a visa and the use of "security" as reasons for not allowing some Jews to leave even though it may have been years since they held "classified" jobs.

Abram said the Soviets will then try to "use everything in their power to induce Jews" to become "mechanized individuals of the state."

At the same time, Abram said the effort to achieve unrestricted emigration will continue, but "the key is in Soviet hands. They can unlock the door."

He also urged that Jews leaving the USSR with emigration visas for Israel should go directly there through Rumania, and not, as at present, through Vienna where most decide to go to the U.S. or other countries. He said 95 percent of the Jews who left Rumania stayed in Israel.

However, he said neither American Jews nor the U.S. government would support Israeli Premier Yitzhak Shamir’s demand that Soviet Jews no longer have refugee status permitting them to come to the U.S.

He said he was encouraged that the Soviets may now allow Jews wishing to go to the U.S. or other countries to apply directly for visas to those countries.

This does not mean any lessening of support by American Jews for aliya, Abram stressed. "We have never seen any demonstrations by Jews in Odessa saying ‘let us go to Brighton Beach,’" a reference to the section of Brooklyn where many Soviet Jewish emigrants have settled.

Abram also said that he was not concerned that the appointment of C. William Verity Jr. as Secretary of Commerce would lessen the Reagan Administration’s support for the Jackson-Vanik Amendment which links U.S. trade benefits for the USSR with increased emigration.

Verity, a former steel company executive, has in the past opposed the amendment. Abram said Verity has made "unfortunate" statements in the past, but in talks he had with him Verity said he would carry out Administration policy. The Administration’s support for Jackson-Vanik is "set in concrete," Abram noted.

He added that Jewish leaders have told the Soviets that if emigration figures increase greatly they would support annual waivers of the amendment as well as its repeal if unrestricted emigration was allowed.

However, Abram said that even if emigration figures reach 8,000 this year, as compared to the 1,000 in 1986, this is only one-seventh of the number allowed to leave in 1979 under Leonid Brezhnev, who is considered much less "liberal" than Gorbachev.