The Israeli flag was raised last week over diplomatic premises in Moscow for the first time in nearly 24 years.
It was raised in modest ceremonies last Thursday over what had been the Israeli Embassy until the Soviet Union severed diplomatic relations with the Jewish state after the Six-Day War of June 1967.
“This is the day which the Lord hath made,” Israeli Consul General Arye Levin said in Hebrew, quoting from Psalm 118, as he hoisted the blue and white flag with the Star of David over the building in the presence of a group of Soviet Jews.
Full diplomatic relations still have not been restored between the two countries. Many observers believe, however, that the formal opening of the new Israeli Consulate on Jan. 3 was a major move in that direction.
“I don’t know what obstacles remain,” said Levin, who was accredited as consul general on Dec. 25 by outgoing Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze. On that day, in a reciprocal ceremony, Alexei Chistyakov, the first Soviet consul general in Israel since 1967, presented his credentials to Israeli Foreign Minister David Levy in Jerusalem.
At Thursday’s ceremony, Levin asked, “If we can have consular relations, why can’t we have full diplomatic relations? What is the difference? Diplomatic relations should be established between countries even if they don’t see eye to eye on a number of questions.”
But the Soviets are “still reticent on this subject,” he said.
Nevertheless, the Israeli daily Ma’ariv quoted a source at the Soviet Embassy in Washington last week as saying, “My feeling is that we are close now to the renewal of full diplomatic relations between Israel and the Soviet Union.”
200,000 VISAS PROCESSED
Meanwhile, Levin and his staff were busy preparing to start issuing Israeli visas at the new consulate to the Soviet Jews applying to immigrate each day. The consulate was closed last Thursday for most business because of the ceremonies, but on Friday the Israelis began for the first time to issue Israeli visas unaided.
About 1,200 had been lining up each day for visas at the Dutch Embassy. The Israel affairs section at the embassy represented Israeli interests in the Soviet Union during the 23-year absence of diplomatic ties between Moscow and Jerusalem.
The old Israeli Embassy, in fact, became an annex of the Netherlands legation.
An Israeli plaque will be affixed this coming Thursday to the entrance, replacing the Dutch plaque, in a separate ceremony expected to be attended by members of the foreign diplomatic corps and Soviet officials.
No Soviet officials were present at last Thursday’s flag-raising. At the ceremony, scores of Jews, many of them prospective immigrants, launched into an impromptu hora, sang Israel’s anthem, Hatikvah, and popular Hebrew songs.
Consul General Levin has been in Moscow for two years. Since 1989, he and his staff have processed about 200,000 Jews applying for immigrant visas, but under the auspices of Holland.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
