Anwar Nuseibeh, a former Foreign Minister of Jordan now living in East Jerusalem, expressed sympathy today for the plight of Meyer Lansky, alleged one-time US underworld chieftain, who has been ordered out of Israel. In a letter published in the Jerusalem Post, Nuseibeh described Lansky as the “victim of legal illogic and human inadequacy.”
He criticized the Israeli Supreme Court’s recent ruling upholding the Interior Ministry’s decision to oust Lansky because of his “criminal past.” According to Nuseibeh, Israel’s Law of Return, under which the 70-year-old Lansky sought sanctuary here, places too much emphasis on a person’s “criminal past” and not enough on the present threat he poses to society.
The former Jordanian official linked Lansky’s situation, with that of the Palestinians. He said the letter was prompted by the fact that the Lansky case “brought into sharp relief the unfortunate frustration of one individual…against the deeper frustration of those who do not even have that qualified solace” of laws designed to help individuals.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
