Yaakov Kedmi

Yakov Kedmi at the Moscow House of Books on 29 April 2017.

Yaakov Kedmi (Hebrew: ‏יעקב קדמי‏‎‎; born 5 March 1947 in Moscow), also known as Yakov Iosifovich Kazakóv (Russian: Яков Иосифович Каз��ко́в) is an Russian-Israeli politician and diplomat. He was the head of the Nativ liaison bureau from 1992-1999, specializing in the repatriation of Eastern European Jews to Israel.

Biography[]

Early life[]

He was born in Moscow on 5 March 1947 in the family of Iosif Yakovlevich Kazakov and Sofia Yakovlevna Kazakova. He studied at the Moscow Institute of Transport Engineers. He applied for Aliyah in early 1967 at the Israeli embassy in Moscow. Israeli diplomats initially refused as they considered him a KGB agent. After publicly renouncing Soviet citizenship in May 1968, Kedmi, in December of that year, wrote an emotional letter, which was received by Nehemiah Levanon after originally being directed to the Supreme Soviet. In the letter, he expressed pride in his Jewish heritage and declared that he had a right to live in Israeli land. Levanon leaked this letter to The Washington Post, which caused wide coverage to occur in the West and public pressure to mount on the government. As a result, Kedmi received permission to emigrate in February 1969 and eventually he was granted an exit visa.^[1]

Career in Israel[]

Once he immigrated to Israel, he went by the Hebraicized name Yaakov Kedmi.^[2] In Israel, Kedmi continued his studies at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa and the Tel Aviv University. He later served in the Israel Defense Forces. It was here where he met future Prime Minister Ehud Barak, with whom he served during the Yom Kippur War. After the war, he worked at Sohnut's office in Austria and held various positions within the Israeli Foreign Ministry. He was a member of Herut, and in 1978, on the recommendation of the party’s leader, joined Nativ. From 1988-1990 he was an employee of the Israeli consular group at the Dutch Embassy in Moscow. In 1992, Yitzhak Shamir appointed Kedmi the director of Nativ. After several corruption scandals and Nativ being deprived of its special status, Kedmi resigned.

Career in Russia[]

In the 21st century, Kedmi became a regular participant in Russian TV shows.^[3] He has participated in televised round tables on Russian television sporting a pro-Kremlin position.^[4] In November 2016, Kedmi defended Joseph Stalin while on a Russian show. He described Stalin as "the last statesman to take care of his country”.^[3]

Family[]

His wife is a food chemist who worked for the Ministry of Defense. He has three children: two sons and a daughter. His daughter graduated from the Bezalel Academy of Arts. The eldest son graduated from Tel Aviv University and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem with a degree in international relations, economics, finance and finance. The younger son graduated from the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya with a degree in jurisprudence, public administration and politics.^[5]

References[]