Col. Joseph Avidar, 49, was named today Israel’s new Ambassador to Moscow. He succeeds Shmuel Eliashiv, who resigned because of ill health.
Col. Avidar, who was born at Kremenetz, in the Ukraine, came to Palestine in 1925. He became a member of the Haganah upon his arrival in Palestine and in 1931, while instructing a class in the use of hand grenades, he saved the lives of his squad by covering a bomb which exploded prematurely. As a result of injuries suffered in that incident, he lost his right hand.
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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.