Yaakov Kedmi (; born 5 March 1947 in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

), also known as Yasha Kazakov and Yakov Iosifovich Kazakov () is a Russian propagandist, an Israeli politician and diplomat. He was the head of the Nativ liaison bureau from 1992 to 1999, specializing in the repatriation of Eastern European Jews to Israel. On 25 February 2023, the

Council of the European Union The Council of the European Union, often referred to in the treaties and other official documents simply as the Council, and less formally known as the Council of Ministers, is the third of the seven institutions of the European Union (EU) a ...

imposed personal sanctions against Kedmi due to his activities as a spreader of the Russian official propaganda intended to justify the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

Biography

Early life

He was born in

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 ''Aliyah'' (, ; ''ʿălīyyā'', ) is the immigration of Jews from Jewish diaspora, the diaspora to, historically, the geographical Land of Israel or the Palestine (region), Palestine region, which is today chiefly represented by the Israel ...

in early 1967 at the Israeli embassy in Moscow. Israeli diplomats initially refused as they suspected that he was a

KGB The Committee for State Security (, ), abbreviated as KGB (, ; ) was the main security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 to 1991. It was the direct successor of preceding Soviet secret police agencies including the Cheka, Joint State Polit ...

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 Nehemiah Levanon (; March 23, 1915 – September 2, 2003) was an Israeli intelligence agent, diplomat, head of the aliyah program Nativ, and a founder of kibbutz Kfar Blum. Originally a native of Latvia, he immigrated to the Mandatory Palestine ...

after originally being directed to the

Supreme Soviet The Supreme Soviet () was the common name for the legislative bodies (parliaments) of the Soviet socialist republics (SSR) in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). These soviets were modeled after the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, establ ...

. 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 ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'', 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.

Career in Israel

Once he immigrated to Israel, he went by the Hebraicized name Yaakov Kedmi. In Israel, Kedmi continued his studies at the

Technion – Israel Institute of Technology The Technion – Israel Institute of Technology is a public university, public research university located in Haifa, Israel. Established in 1912 by Jews under the dominion of the Ottoman Empire, the Technion is the oldest university in the coun ...

Haifa Haifa ( ; , ; ) is the List of cities in Israel, third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropolitan area i ...

and the

Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv University (TAU) is a Public university, public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Located in northwest Tel Aviv, the university is the center of teaching and ...

. He later served in the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and ...

. It was here where he met future Prime Minister

Ehud Barak Ehud Barak ( ; born Ehud Brog; 12 February 1942) is an Israeli former general and politician who served as the Prime Minister of Israel, prime minister from 1999 to 2001. He was leader of the Israeli Labor Party, Labor Party between 1997 and 20 ...

, with whom he served during the

Yom Kippur War The Yom Kippur War, also known as the Ramadan War, the October War, the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, or the Fourth Arab–Israeli War, was fought from 6 to 25 October 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states led by Egypt and S ...

. After the war, he worked at

Sohnut The Jewish Agency for Israel (), formerly known as the Jewish Agency for Palestine, is the largest Jewish non-profit organization in the world. It was established in 1929 as the operative branch of the World Zionist Organization (WZO). As an ...

's office in

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

and held various positions within the Israeli Foreign Ministry. He was a member of

Herut Herut () was the major conservative nationalist political party in Israel from 1948 until its formal merger into Likud in 1988. It was an adherent of Revisionist Zionism. Some of their policies were compared to those of the Nazi party. Early y ...

, and in 1978, on the recommendation of the party's leader, joined Nativ. From 1988 to 1990 he was an employee of the Israeli consular group at the Dutch Embassy in Moscow. In 1992,

Yitzhak Shamir Yitzhak Shamir (, ; born Yitzhak Yezernitsky; October 22, 1915 – June 30, 2012) was an Israeli politician and the seventh prime minister of Israel, serving two terms (1983–1984, 1986–1992). Before the establishment of the State of Israel, ...

appointed Kedmi the director of Nativ. After Nativ was deprived of its special status, Kedmi resigned in 1999.

Career in the Russian Federation

In the 21st century, Kedmi became high-profile lecturer in geopolitics, and from 2014 also became a regular participant in various Russian TV shows. He has participated in televised round tables on Russian television supporting pro-

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

position in international political affairs. In November 2016, Kedmi defended

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

while on ''

Evening with Vladimir Solovyov Evening with Vladimir Solovyov () is a Russian television talk show on Russia-1. The television show is hosted by Vladimir Solovyov, a controversial Russian television personality. Controversies In August 2017, the Russia-1 and RTR-Planeta t ...

''. He described Stalin as "the last statesman to take care of his country”. Despite his support for the

, he has argued against the Russian position that sees the arms shipments from the West to Ukraine as part of a European war against Russia. He came out in the Russian media against Solovyov's calls for bombing of civilian targets, calling them "obscene". According to Kedmi, his words are the expression of his personal opinions, and are part of freedom of expression, and these measures are intended to prevent him from expressing his opinions, being a private citizen, who does not make decisions regarding these issues.

Family

His wife is a food chemist who worked for the

Ministry of Defense A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divided ...

. He has three children: two sons and a daughter. His daughter, Revital, graduated from the Bezalel Academy of Arts and is a graphic designer. The eldest son, Sharon, graduated from Tel Aviv University and the

Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public university, public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. ...

with a degree in international relations, economics and finance, and was the Director General of the Israeli Economy Ministry. The youngest son, Sefi, graduated from London Business School and runs a global research firm.

Books

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kedmi, Yaakov 1947 births Living people Russian propagandists Russian Jews People of Israeli intelligence agencies Diplomats for Israel Soviet emigrants to Israel Tel Aviv University alumni