The New York Times reports today from Tel Aviv that the Soviet Government has rejected the nomination of Zalman Shazar, former member of the Israel Cabinet, as Israel Minister to Moscow, presumably because of his Zionist background in Czarist Russia. (A cable to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency said that Mr. Shazar will be appointed director of the Berl Katznelson Educational Institute maintained in Israel by the Histadruth.)
Emphasizing that Israel’s Foreign Office has refused to discuss the case “because it is trying not to exacerbate the present tenseness in Soviet-Israel relations,” the Times report says that Mr. Shazar’s name was submitted to Moscow some time ago and that an agreement was now being sought instead for the appointment of Dr. Shmuel Elyashov, Israel’s Minister to Prague and former head of the East-European Department of Israel’s Foreign Office.
The report says that the Russians gave no reason for their rejection of Mr. Shazar. “Under normal circumstances, Israel probably would not have made a second nomination so quickly and with so little fuss,” the report states, “but of prime consideration to Israel is the fact that about 3,000,000 Jews still remain in Eastern Europe, and it is hoped to rescue the million or so in Communist countries outside of Russia.” Soviet good will, or at least silent acquiescence, is needed for this, the report points out.
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