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April 16, 1999/30 Nisan 5759, Vol. 51, No. 29
Yugoslav refugees head for Israel
MICHAEL J. JORDAN
and NAOMI SEGAL
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
After the Holocaust wiped out 85 percent of their community, some said it was over for Yugoslavia's Jews. Yet, somehow, they rebounded. But can they survive another cataclysm?
With NATO air strikes pounding away at their homeland for a third week, the future of Yugoslav Jewry is embarking for Israel. On April 13, 40 young Jews, aged 18 to 35, flew from Budapest for a 12-day getting-to-know-Israel type of trip, courtesy of the Jewish Agency for Israel. It is the first stage of what the agency hopes will become a large-scale aliyah, immigration to the Jewish state. A second group of 20 was to leave April 14, with another 90 - mostly families - to follow in a week or two.
Also this week, a flight carrying 111 ethnic Albanians from Kosovo touched down in Israel on Monday afternoon. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was among the dignitaries who welcomed the flight, organized by the Jewish Agency for Israel. Israel agreed to grant the group asylum as part of the humanitarian assistance it has extended to their war-torn region.
After their arrival, the Kosovars were taken to Kibbutz Ma'agan Michael, near Haifa, where the Jewish Agency will provide for their needs for the next six months. The refugees then will be given the choice of obtaining Israeli citizenship or returning to their homes.
While the Yugoslav Jews now in Israel are not from Kosovo, their immediate priority is to be out of harm's way as the fighting continues in their homeland. But if they like Israel, and stay, the future looks bleak for the community back home.
"I'm not a prophet," said Aca Singer, president of the Federation of Jewish Communities in Yugoslavia, who was in Budapest on Tuesday, April 13. "But if we continue like this, the Yugoslav Jewish community may not exist much longer."
Indeed, many in the Israel-bound group say they would rather return home than make a permanent life in Israel. Few are gung-ho about aliyah; if they do it, they say, it may be more out of necessity than desire.
One young man headed for Israel said he'd likely stay for six months of intensive Hebrew studies, than reassess the situation. The fact that his parents remain in Belgrade, the Yugoslav capital, holds him back.
Returning home "is no longer a question of war; the country is pretty much devastated as it is," said the man, 19, who asked that his name not be used. "But I wouldn't want to make aliyah without my parents. ... However, I think now they're just as anxious to get out as I was. Nobody wants to look at those fireworks every night."
Still, others have a fear of Israel becoming entangled in another Middle East war.
"Every country has its disadvantages," said the woman, 37. "But all I want is to find my place under the sun, where I can work and feel safe and for my children to have opportunities in life."
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