Israeli held on charges of smuggling diamonds

MOSCOW, March 3 (JTA) — Russian authorities have detained an Israeli on diamond-smuggling charges. Avraham Aderet was hiding more than five pounds of diamonds on his body last Friday when he tried to leave Russia, according to customs officials at the Moscow international airport. According to investigators with the Moscow police department, Aderet said an unidentified person had asked him to transfer the diamonds on an El Al flight bound for Tel Aviv. The precious stones have an estimated value of $150,000 to $250,000. The Israeli Embassy in Moscow confirmed the arrest and said it was monitoring the situation. Representatives of Moscow’s Jewish community say they have been making every effort to ease the situation of the 45-year-old Tel Aviv resident, who is an observant Jew. According to Rabbi Berel Lazar, chairman of the Rabbinical Alliance of the Commonwealth of Independent States, the community has been providing the detainee with kosher food. Last month, another foreign Jew was arrested in the former Soviet Union on charges of smuggling. American Velvl Tabak, who once held the title of Belarus’ chief rabbi, was released on bail after one day in jail in the Belarussian capital of Minsk. He was charged with attempting to take several antique Hebrew books he acquired in Belarus out of the country. Tabak reportedly remains in Minsk. The charges brought against him have yet to be dismissed and he has not been permitted to leave the country.