A three-woman delegation from the Soviet Union arrived here yesterday to participate in International Women’s Day, an event sponsored by the Israel Democratic Women’s Organization which had invited the Russians. Vera Shukhanova, a history lecturer at Moscow University who heads the delegation, told reporters that Soviet and Israeli women were “fighting the same battle.”
The other members of the delegation, which represents the Soviet Women’s Committee, are Dr. Zenov Ykobova, a lecturer in gynecology at the Kazan Medical School, and Eluyira Yakoshena of the Moscow Committee of Solidarity for Women. The number of Soviet visitors to Israel since Moscow broke diplomatic ties with Jerusalem during the Six-Day War has dwindled to such an extent that the presence of the Soviet women drew more than passing attention. Miss Shukhanova said she and her colleagues were pleased with the opportunity to study at first hand the “struggle” of Israeli women because Soviet women can identify with it.
She said her country was interested in peace in the Middle East but was opposed to the conquest of Arab territories by Israel which it considered an obstacle to peace. Miss Shukhanova reminded the reporters that the USSR supported Israel’s existence and was the first state to recognize Israel when it gained independence 25 years ago. She said that most of her Jewish friends in Moscow liked the Soviet Union. “None of my Jewish friends have emigrated to Israel yet,” she quipped.
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