A 70 year-old Egyptian Jewish woman will probably be the first Egyptian immigrant to Israel following the peace treaty, due to efforts on her behalf by Leon Dulzin, chairman of the World Zionist Organization and Jewish Agency Executives, and various governmental aides.
The woman, Leah Mandelbaum, comes from a renowned family in Alexandria. She remained in Egypt despite the fact that most of her family now lives in Jerusalem because of a promise she made to her brother before his death that she would rebury him in the Holy Land. Once Egyptian President Anwar Sadat’s peace initiative began, Rabbi Simcha Kook of Rehovot wrote to the elderly woman, telling her she could leave her brother’s body behind. She, however, refused.
The situation attracted the attention of Dulzin, who promised one of Mandelbaum’s relatives, Dr Moshe Mandelbaum, a member of the Jerusalem Municipal Council, that he would take up the issue with the Egyptians during his visit to Cairo yesterday where he accompanied Premier Menachem Begin, and that he would bring her to Jerusalem.
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