Israel’s deputy FM: Russian Jews get what some American Jews forget

Noam Sheizaf By Noam Sheizaf April 14, 2013 | Edit

One hundred Jewish leaders from Russia sent a public letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urging him to ignore the call from Jewish-American leaders and public figure to make territorial concessions for peace.

“…we believe that the decisions of the Head of the Government of Israel on critical issues should be taken for the sake of people of Israel only… Decisions on national security issues must not be made under external pressure, regardless of its origins: world public opinion, U.S. leaders or even influential American Jews.”

In response to both letters, Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister Ze’ev Elkin (Likud-Beitenu) told the Maariv daily paper that “pressure from overseas shouldn’t guide the prime minister in leading the diplomatic process… I am glad that the leaders of the Russian Jewish community get what is sometimes forgotten by some American Jews.”

Israel has no full time foreign minister, since this role is being kept by Netanyahu for Avigdor Lieberman’s possible return to the government after his corruption trial ends.

Noam Sheizaf

Noam Sheizaf is an independent journalist and editor. He was the founding executive director and editor-in-chief of +972 Magazine. Prior to joining +972, he worked for Tel Aviv’s Ha-ir local paper, Ynet, and the Maariv daily, where his last position was deputy editor of the weekend magazine. He is currently working on a number of documentary films.

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