President Clinton sent a clear message that he did not trust the Communists when he met with Jewish leaders last week during a visit here.
“Moreover, President Clinton clearly wanted [the Communists] to know it,” said Moscow Chief Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt, who also serves as a member of the executive of the Russian Jewish Congress.
Clinton, on a three-day visit to Russia to attend a nuclear summit, used the trip to make a thinly veiled attempt to bolster the prospects of President Boris Yeltsin, who is running neck and neck in the polls with Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov, before the country’s June presidential vote.
While in Moscow, Clinton held a brief meeting with Jewish leaders, who voiced their fears for the future should Zyuganov win the election.
Clinton said he was unable to predict whether conditions for the Jewish community would worsen under a Zyuganov presidency, according to those at the meeting.
Attending the session at the Moscow Radisson along with Goldschmidt were Irina Scherban of the Va’ad, a Jewish umbrella group; Russian Chief Rabbi Adolph Shayevich; Julie Brooks of the National Conference for Soviet Jewry, who organized the meeting; and anti-fascist activist Alla Gerber.
During the meeting, Clinton showed an interest in the recent development of the Russian Jewish community.
Zinovy Kogan, leader of the Hineini Moscow Reform Jewish Congregation, presented Clinton with a copy of the Labor of the Soul prayer book, the first Reform collection of prayers ever printed in Russia.
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