Today, Russian television channels are literally full of various popular talk shows devoted to debates on the topic of politics and confrontations in this area. In one of these programs, an inquisitive viewer can very often see a person named Jacob Kedmi, whose biography will be examined in detail in this article. This man is worthy of our closest attention, because he has done a lot for the formation of the modern Israeli state.
Early life
Yakov Iosifovich Kazakov was born on March 5, 1947 in Moscow in a very intelligent family of Soviet engineers. In addition to him, the family had two more children. After our hero graduated from high school, he began working at the factory as a concrete concrete worker. In parallel with this, the young man entered the correspondence department of Moscow State University of Railway Engineering and Communications.
Rebel Manifestation
Jacob Kedmi, whose biography is full of various interesting events, performed an act on February 19, 1967, which only an extremely desperate and courageous person could decide in those years. The young man came to the gates of the Israeli embassy in Moscow and declared that he wanted to move to a permanent place of residence in this country. Of course, no one let him in, then he broke into the territory of the consulate by force and abuse, where in the end he was met by a diplomat named Herzl Amikam. The diplomat decided that everything that was happening was a possible provocation on the part of the KGB and therefore did not give a positive answer to the young man’s request. However, a week later, persistent Jacob again went to the embassy and still received such coveted forms for immigration.
In June 1967, when the USSR broke off diplomatic relations with Israel over the Six Day War, Cadmi publicly renounced the citizenship of the Union and began to demand that he be allowed to leave for Israel forever. Then he entered the US Embassy in Moscow, where he had a lengthy conversation with the consul about the departure of the Promised Land to the country.
On May 20, 1968, Yakov Kedmi (whose biography is worthy of respect) became the author of a letter that was sent to the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. In it, the guy harshly condemned the manifestations of anti-Semitism and put forward a demand to deprive him of Soviet citizenship. In addition, he arbitrarily proclaimed himself a citizen of the Israeli state. This statement was the first in the Union of such a plan. Ultimately, in February 1969, he still moved to Israel and, according to some reports, even burned his Soviet citizen's passport on Red Square. Although Kedmi himself regularly denies this fact.
Life in a new homeland
Jacob Kedmi, for whom Israel became a new place of residence, upon arrival in the country immediately dealt with the issue of repatriation of Soviet Jews. In 1970, he even starved near the UN building due to the fact that the Soviet authorities forbade his relatives to move to him. At the same time, the Americans believed that the young Jew was a secret agent of the KGB. The family reunited on March 4, 1970, after which Jacob immediately became a fighter in the Israel Defense Forces. The service took place in tank units. Then there was training at a military school and intelligence school. In 1973 he was discharged to the reserve. The year before, he had a son.
After service
Having become a civilian, Yakov went to work in the security service of the Arkiya airport terminal. He also simultaneously became a student at the Israel Institute of Technology, and a little later successfully completed his studies at Tel Aviv University and the College of National Security.
Transition to special services
In 1977, Yakov Kedmi, whose biography at that time was already filled with serious achievements, was invited to work at the Nativ Bureau. This structure was an Israeli state institution that operated under the Office of the Prime Minister of the country. The main responsibility of the bureau was to ensure relations with Jews abroad and to assist them in emigrating to Israel. At the beginning of its existence, Nativ actively worked with Jews living both in the USSR and other countries of Eastern Europe. Moreover, at first emigration took place illegally. By the way, Jacob received the name Kedmi in 1978, when he worked in a special transit emigration center located in Vienna.
Increase
In 1990, Kedmi moved up the career ladder and became deputy director of Nativa. In the period 1992-1998. Jacob was already the head of the structure. It was during the period of Kedmi’s leadership in the bureau that the maximum influx of Jews from the countries of the former Soviet Union fell. During this time, almost a million people moved to Israel. Such a significant influx of specialists and prominent scientists played an important role in the formation of Israel as a state. The colossal merit in the resettlement of Jews to their historical homeland belongs precisely to Kedmi.
Leaving Nativ
In the fall of 1997, Yakov was invited to work on a committee that addressed the issue of Iran’s increasing aggression and improved relations between Moscow and Tehran. It is worth noting that the new work of Kedmi was personally proposed by the then Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu. In the process, Jacob made a proposal to involve influential Jews of the Russian Federation in worsening relations between Russia and Iran. However, Netanyahu rejected this offer, which served to cool the relationship between him and Kedmi.
In 1999, Jacob finally left the security services. His resignation was preceded by a number of serious scandals that were directly related to “Nativ”. Structures such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, intelligence Shabak and Mossad strongly opposed the functioning of Nativa. According to Kedmi himself, after retiring, he became an ordinary pensioner, although he received a pension equal to the general's.
In the same 1999, Jacob initiated a public discussion of his disagreements with Netanyahu. The former head of Nativ picketed the prime minister with his criticism for allegedly betraying the interests of Jews and ruining relations with the Russian Federation.
Family status
Jacob Kedmi, a family for whom his whole life has played a leading role, has been married for a very long time. His wife, Edith, was a food chemist by training and for some time was an employee of the Israeli Ministry of Defense. After nearly 40 years of continuous work, she retired. The couple raised two sons and a daughter.
The eldest son of the couple studied at the Interdisciplinary College in Herzliya, has two diplomas of higher education. The daughter graduated from the Academy of Arts.
