Israel’s Foreign Ministry wants to ensure that Jews who were forced to flee Arab countries after 1948 are included in international discussions about the refugee issue, Deputy Foreign Minister Daniel Ayalon has told the ‘Jerusalem Post’. He called it “vitally important to return this issue to the international agenda. It is a matter of justice, closure, and righting a wrong." Ayalon, whose father came to Israel after being forced out of Algeria, said this issue has "a practical as well as a moral aspect. The demands from the two sides are asymmetrical, the Palestinians talk of rights and justice, yet the rights and justice of the Jewish refugees from Arab lands have been ignored and suppressed for too long. "We are going to make an effort now to bring to the forefront the plight of the Jews from the Arab countries,” he said.
The Foreign Ministry has appointed an official to coordinate the matter, who met over the last few weeks with historical and legal experts and is preparing a detailed position paper that will be entered into the discussion on the refugee issue. “We will make sure that this will be an important and integral part of the negotiations for a final settlement," Ayalon said. "Just as the Arab refugees are an issue, so are the Jewish refugees.”
The Foreign Ministry has sent a cable to all of its missions abroad calling on Israel’s ambassadors to bring the issue up with governments and international organizations. Ayalon's initiative is done in alliance with Justice for Jews from Arab Countries (JJAC), whose mission is to put this issue on the international agenda. Israeli diplomats told the ‘Jerusalem Post’ that the reason for raising the issue was not primarily to receive compensation for Jews who left Arab countries but rather to seek redress and an acknowledgement by the world that there was not only a Palestinian refugee issue, but also a Jewish one.
