In News
Unbelievable: Israeli Government's Attempted 'Selektzia' on Holocaust Survivors
A letter to Poland from the 50's reveals: Golda Meir requested that sick and disabled Jews not be allowed to immigrate to Israel. Litzman: 'This is inexcusable'
A letter that was published exclusively in 'Haartez' reveals a terrible secret that was hidden from the eyes and ears of the public for over fifty years and casts a dark shadow on the Israeli leadership of the 50's.
The letter was written by former Prime Minister Golda Meir in 1958 to Israel's ambassador in Warsaw when Mrs. Meir served as Foreign Minister. In the letter, she asked the ambassador to prevent sick and disabled Jews from immigrating to Israel. The letter was recently discovered in the archives of the Israeli Foreign Ministry by a Jewish researcher from Poland.
In the secret letter, former Prime Minister Golda Meir wished to perform a 'selektzia' on the potential Jewish immigrants to Israel. "During a discussion at the Coordination Committee, a suggestion was proposed to select only strong and healthy immigrants, as we cannot accept sick and disabled ones anymore", Golda Meir wrote to Israel's ambassador in Warsaw, Natriel Katz. The letter was categorized as 'classified', and included a sentence written by the Prime Minister: "Please explain this to the Poles without causing damage to the immigration process".
The document, which was written in April 1958, a short time after Golda Meir was appointed Foreign Minister, was discovered by Professor Shimon Rudnizky, a Jew and Polish historian from the University of Warsaw who has been researching documents and files documenting Israeli-Polish relations during the years of 1945-1967. The letter was previously unknown to researchers of the mass immigration waves from Poland to Israel who were totally unaware of the intention to select only healthy and strong immigrants and shun Jews who were sick and handicapped after suffering immensely during the Holocaust.
Ambassador Katz passed away twenty years ago, and no evidence has been found indicating any intervention on his part in the issue of the 'selektzia'. The immigration wave from Poland during the years 1956-1958 was the second one after the Holocaust, during which approximately 40,000 Jews arrived in Israel.
Deputy Health Minister MK Rabbi Yaakov Litzman expressed his shock and dismay at the content of the letter and said that if it is true, then it is absolutely inexcusable and intolerable. "It is painful to believe that the State of Israel wished to get rid of the survivors who went through unimaginable suffering during one of the most tragic eras of our history", Litzman said.
Litzman also said that it is regrettable that the letter was discovered only now, so many years later.
Illegal Aliens Attacked Inspectors from the Oz Deportation Unit with Tear Gas 6 Inspectors showed up this morning to arrest illegal workers who have been in Israel for 10 years, and were attacked with tear gas.
Herzog: Immediately Freeze the Water Price Hike Minister Herzog has asked the Prime Minister to immediately cancel the rise in water rates, but at the same time, to significantly increase the price of excessive water use.
Adava Report: Education in Israel is For the Rich According to a report publicized this morning, the State of Israel has created a segregated education system - "for the rich only" – whereby many school functions are funded by private money donated to the schools by the parents of the students. The report therefore claims that Israel's students are the victims of "natural selection".