Israel’s five-member consular delegation to Moscow spent its first weekend in the Soviet capital by attending services at Moscow’s main Choral Synagogue.
The delegation, the first Israeli diplomats to visit the Soviet Union since the Soviets severed ties with Israel in the wake of the Six-Day War, attended services at the synagogue on Friday night and again on Saturday morning.
Crowds at the synagogue were smaller than had been anticipated. Some 60 Jews were reported to have attended Friday evening’s services and about 150 local Jews and tourists attended Saturday morning.
The Israelis’ arrival has been covered in the Soviet media by one-line references, if at all. Some of the worshipers Friday night were said to have heard of the planned synagogue visit only on foreign shortwave radio broadcasts.
In conversations with the Israelis, many Soviet Jews, including some refuseniks, reportedly expressed disappointment at changes in Israeli policy designed to force those emigrating on Israeli visas to go directly to Israel. In recent months, more than 90 percent have gone instead to the United States and other Western countries.
The Israeli delegation arrived Thursday evening at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport. They were met by two diplomats from the Dutch Embassy, but not by Soviet officials.
The delegation begins its official duties in Moscow later this week, when its members will present themselves to Soviet officials of the Foreign Ministry’s Consular Department.
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