Biography
Mendelevitch, born in Riga, was one of the participants of the Dymshits-Kuznetsov hijacking affair, recounted in his 2012 memoir Unbroken Spirit. As punishment, he was imprisoned for eleven years. In 1981 he was released and immigrated to Israel.
He served in the Gulag with famous Jewish dissident Natan Sharansky (amongst others). In Sharansky's memoir Fear No Evil he describes innovative ways Mendelevitch used to communicate with Sharansky (via toilet bowls and radiators).
Mendelevitch had always exhibited leadership qualities, early on in Israel he headed an organization called Soviet Jewry Information Center and has managed to attract followers to his causes. This has been attested to by his fellow refuseniks, such as Natan Sharansky: "In May 1988 he founded the Zionist Forum, in preparation for the future waves of Aliyah from the Soviet Union, and based its activity on the database formed by former Refusenik Yosef Mendelevitch."
He was known as a "Prisoner of Zion". Since moving to Israel he adopted Orthodox Judaism and has become a rabbi affiliated with the Religious Zionist movement.
Mendelevitch has been a political activist from his days in the former USSR, when he moved to Israel and as globetrotting speaker on behalf of various causes, sich as lobbying for the release of convicted spy Jonathan Pollard in the USA.
In his autobiography, written in Hebrew, מבצע חתונה אסיר ציון he describes his struggle as a "Prisoner of Zion."
Mendelevitch has become a popular speaker in various Jewish communities and has spoken out on controversial issues relating to Israel and the former Soviet Union. He has constantly involved himself in political and international affairs, Russia's support for Arab states and the Arab-Israeli conflict, such as when he spoke out against a 1991 state visit by Soviet Foreign Minister Alexander Bessmertnykh's visit to Israel:
- "Jews who spent years in Soviet prisons were far less enthusiastic than most Israelis about Soviet Foreign Minister Alexander Bessmertnykh's historic visit here Friday...'It's nothing but a bad dream,' said Yosef Mendelevitch, another former Soviet prisoner, commenting on Bessmertnykh's visit, the first by a Soviet foreign minister to Israel. Mendelevitch spent about a decade in Soviet prisons on charges of attempting to hijack an airplane to Israel. He was freed and permitted to emigrate in 1981. He told Israel radio that he still distrusts the Soviets because of Moscow's alliance with Arab states. 'We should remember that a lot of the blood spilled here in the last 40 years was with Soviet weapons,' he added. Sharansky and Mendelevitch also criticized the Soviet leader for hinting Thursday in Amman that the tide of Soviet immigrants to Israel could be halted unless Israel stops building Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip."
There have been many articles, books and documentaries about his life.
Read more about this topic: Yosef Mendelevitch
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