Leah Mandelbaum, who was born in Alexandria 70 years ago, returned to Egypt today after spending a weekend with relatives in Israel she had not seen for more than 40 years. The elderly woman crossed the border at El Arish last Friday without a passport, aided by sympathetic Egyptian and Israeli officers who heeded her plea to be allowed to enter Israel.
Defense Minister Ezer Weizman, who had located Mrs. Mandelbaum in Alexandria several months ago at the request of her relatives in Israel, said he would personally make arrangements for her legal return to Israel as an immigrant. Weizman goes to Alexandria next week for the second meeting of the Israeli-Egyptian committee on Palestinian autonomy. He discussed the matter over the weekend with one of the woman’s relatives, Dr. Moshe Mandelbaum, a former senior government official, now a Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem. They agreed that it would be best not to violate the agreements with Egypt on the functioning of the border checkpoint at El Arish and therefore Mrs. Mandelbaum should return to Egypt and later re-enter Israel legitimately.
She agreed. Although relatives pleaded with her to stay, the woman insisted that she must go back to Egypt, promising that she would soon return to Israel permanently.
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.
