Ephraim Paz, a member of Israel’s mission to the Soviet Union, was accused yesterday by Izvestia, the official organ of the U.S.S.R Government, of disseminating “dirty” Zionist propaganda,” according to a dispatch received here from Moscow today.
Izvestia charged that Mr. Paz, aided by his wife, Batia, and their young son had distributed the “Zionist propaganda” on beaches, on trains, in taxicabs, restaurants and on streets. Among the material, Izvestia stated, was the novel, “Exodus,” by the American author, Leon Uris; Hebrew calendars; postcard views of Tel Aviv and Israeli stamps.
A spokesman for the Israeli embassy in Moscow was quoted as saying: Such allegations have become almost a tradition in the Soviet press before the Jewish New Year. (David Garish, second secretary of the Israel Embassy in Moscow, was similarly accused last month of distributing “Zionist propaganda” and then expelled from the Soviet Union.)
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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.