On the screens of domestic television, you can more and more often see the performances of the authoritative Israeli politician Yakov Kedmi. He actively discusses with opponents on issues of foreign and domestic policy. Some time ago, this Israeli political and statesman was responsible in his country for the repatriation of Jews.
From the biography of Yakov Kedmi
The future diplomat and statesman was born on March 5, 1947 in Moscow. Yakov Iosifovich Kedmi (real name - Kazakov) came from a family of engineers. He was the eldest of three children. After graduating from school, I went to the plant as an ordinary concrete worker-reinforcement worker. In parallel, he studied at the Moscow University of Railways.
In February 1967, Yakov broke through the police cordon to the Israeli embassy in the capital of the USSR. Here he applied for immigration. However, the weird young man was refused: the diplomats considered Jacob to be a KGB agent. Yakov received the blanks for travel to Israel only during his second visit to the embassy.
In the summer of the same year, a war broke out between Israel and several Middle Eastern states. The USSR broke off relations with Israel. Then Yakov renounced the citizenship of the USSR. Subsequently, he publicly condemned the policy of anti-Semitism in the Soviet Union and refused to serve in the army of the Land of the Soviets. Kazakov said that military service will only be in the Israeli army.
Emigrant Yakov Kazakov
In the winter of 1969, Yakov received official permission to leave the country. He was asked to leave the USSR within two weeks. First, Jacob got to Vienna, and from there he flew to Israel. In this country, the young man took part in a movement that set as its goal the organization of the repatriation of Jews from the Soviet Union.
In 1970, Yakov made sure that his family was released from the USSR to Israel. The young rebel fulfilled his promise: he joined the ranks of the Israeli army. He served in tank units. Behind him is a military school, as well as an intelligence school.
In 1973, Jacob completed his military service and went to work in the airport security division. At the same time, he honed his education: he studied at the College of National Security and the Israel Institute of Technology.
In 1977 Kazakov was attracted to cooperation with the Nativ bureau. It is an Israeli government agency that helps Jews move to Israel. In the spring of 1978, Kazakov changed his surname to Kedmi.
In 1990, Kedmi became the deputy head of the Nativ bureau, and two years later he became the head of this organization. He took a direct part in the mass migration of Jews from Russia to Israel. In 1999, Kedmi was dismissed. His departure was preceded by a series of scandals related to Kedmi's activities as head of the bureau.
After retirement, Kedmi became actively involved in politics. Until 2015, the ex-intelligence officer was banned from entering Russia. Now he is a frequent visitor to the territory of his former homeland. He often takes part in political television shows.
Jacob Kedmi is married. His wife Edith left for Israel from the Land of the Soviets in 1969. The Kedmi family has two children.
