A hope that the new leadership of the Soviet Union would ameliorate the position of the Jews in the USSR was expressed here today by Israel’s Minister of the Interior, Moshe Chaim Shapiro. Addressing the annual Mizrachi conference here, Mr. Shapiro told the delegates that he hoped “the new Government of the Soviet Union would show a better understanding of the problem of Soviet Jews, and would feel the agony of the families torn apart, enabling such families to unite” with their relatives abroad.
Discussing the place of the Mizrachi in the Government of Israel, where it participates in the coalition government as part of the National Religious Party, Mr. Shapiro said: “We are often advised by Agudath Israel to leave the government, and join them in fighting anti-religion from the outside. This is wrong-headed advice which Mizrachi cannot accept.”
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.