A letter allegedly signed by 107 former Russian citizens now living in Israel, complaining about “bitter” conditions in Israel and asking help to return to Russia, has been published in a Moscow newspaper in one of the sharpest attacks on Israel to appear in the Soviet press, it was reported here today.
The letter appeared in the labor, newspaper Trud as an appeal to Marshal Kliment Y. Voroshilov, Soviet Chief of State, with charges that the writers had been “deceived” into going to Israel “through lying Zionist propaganda.” Publication of the letter was considered here a move by Soviet authorities to counter a statement made by officials in Israel to the New York Times that there were almost no Russian Jews in Israel who want to return to the Soviet Union.
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.