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Soviet Ambassador in Israel Proposes Nuclear-free Zone in Mid-east

March 14, 1966
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Soviet Ambassador Dimitry Chuvakhin proposed here this weekend the formation of a nuclear-free zone in the Middle East. Addressing the Israeli council of the World Jewish Congress, he said that a nuclear-free zone in the Middle East would lessen tensions in the region “and increase the chances for peace talks between the governments of the area.”

Referring to “the spirit of Tashkent”–the pacification of the latest India-Pakistan conflict through mediation by the USSR — he said his Government is trying to find similar solutions to problems in other parts of the world. He called upon organized Jewish opinion to back Soviet opposition to what he called “West German revanchism and militarism.”

Addressing the same meeting in the presence of the envoy from Moscow, Tel Aviv Mayor Mordechai Namir expressed the hope that the Soviet Government would “understand our feelings toward Russian Jews.” The Mayor asked that the USSR “allow the Jews to develop their traditions and culture” and to permit Russian Jews who wish to emigrate to leave their country “to unite with their relatives in Israel.”

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