Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister Yitzhak Shamir, in his speech at the World Conference of Friendship Leagues, said:
“Anatoly Shcharansky has become a symbol of the struggle of hundreds and thousands for freedom from Soviet oppression and for repatriation to Israel. Like many Soviet Jews, he came to realize that his future as an active, self-respecting member of the Jewish people lies only in Israel.
“He fought for his rights as a human being and as a Jew. He paid a heavy price, in imprisonment, suffering, torture, both mental and physical, and separation from his wife and family. Together with Avital Shcharansky, we rejoice in his newly-acquired freedom and his coming home to the land of his forefathers.
“But we must not for a moment forget that our struggle is for the many hundreds of thousands who remain behind, who are suffering and who are longing for freedom and deliverance, who rely first and foremost on us, on the Jewish State of Israel and you here in this conference and on all the friends of freedom all over the world to secure their salvation and their repatriation.
“We cannot fail them.”
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