Israeli officials are circumspect over the defection to Israel of a prominent member of the Soviet Academy of Sciences who arrived here this week.
Jacob Kogan, 48, a distinguished mathematician, literally bolted from an official Soviet delegation attending an international conference on computers in Paris.
He reportedly left his hotel early one morning last week to jog. He made his way directly to the Israeli Embassy, where he asked for asylum.
The Foreign Ministry, apparently embarrassed by the defection at a time when Israeli-Soviet relations seem to be improving, stressed that Kogan arrived in Israel “through normal procedures.”
“As with all Jews wishing to come to Israel,” he was first issued a tourist visa and then, since he had no money, was referred to the Jewish Agency in Paris, which provided him with an air ticket, a Foreign Ministry spokesman explained Wednesday.
Kogan landed at Ben-Gurion Airport carrying a small bag and still wearing his running shoes.
He is presently housed at the Milman immigrant absorption center in Tel Aviv, but has not yet been issued an immigrant’s visa.
Kogan left a wife and two sons, ages 7 and 10, in Moscow. He told reporters here he had wanted to go to Israel for along time.
But he did not apply for an exit permit, because he would immediately have lost his job and would have had to wait for years as a refusenik because of his alleged knowledge of state secrets, he said.
Israeli officials apparently want him to keep a low profile. After telling reporters Wednesday that he was “very happy” to be in Israel, he was whisked away before he could be asked any questions.
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