INCREASE IN EMIGRATION TO ISRAEL ANTICIPATED.

Russia’s current economic and political crisis could swell the number of Jews trying to emigrate from Russia to Israel, officials said yesterday. According to Aleksandr Osovtsov, identified as the executive vice president of Russia’s Jewish Congress, “the process of emigration, involving not only Jews but other nationalities, is a direct consequence of the situation inside Russia… The worse off the country, the more people wish to do so.” Israeli officials have indicated that the number of immigrants from Russia and other former Soviet republics to Israel could rise from about 50,000 to 80,000-120,000 per year if Russia’s domestic difficulties continue. (AP, Russian agencies, September 9) More than 600,000 Jews have emigrated to Israel from the former Soviet Union since 1989.

BRITISH HOSTAGES ALIVE AND WELL.