Israeli Foreign Minister Yitzhak Shamir expressed guarded hope today that the change of leadership in the Kremlin may result eventually in the normalization of relations between the Soviet Union and Israel.
Shamir, at a press conference marking the end of his three-day visit to Belgium, referred to the death Sunday of Soviet President Konstantin Chernenko and his immediate replacement by Mikhail Gorbachev who was named Chairman of the Soviet Communist Party and is expected shortly to be named President.
Shamir, said he hoped the USSR, which broke diplomatic relations with Israel after the 1967 Six-Day War, would now move to resolve the problem of the emigration of Soviet Jews and change its attitude toward the Jewish State. However, he stressed, it is much too early to make any predictions.
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