For me the best obituary for the late Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir, is his interest in the plight of the Jewish refugees from Arab countries. While most other prime ministers before him considered the Jews from Arab countries as simply “olim” who came to Israel as Zionists, Shamir did not. When he was designated as foreign minister, he invited me to his home in Jerusalem and we spent several hours together so he could learn more about the story of the Jewish refugees from Arab countries. And he brought it up at the Madrid Conference. For me he was the first Israeli politician who championed the rights of the Jewish refugees from Arab countries.
President, The World Organization of Jews from Arab Countries
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