Natan Scharansky Soviet dissident, Israeli minister Date of Birth: 20.01.1948 Country: Israel

1. Soviet dissident, Israeli minister
2. Advocacy for human rights
3. Arrest and imprisonment
4. Continued activism and political career in Israel

Soviet dissident, Israeli minister

Nathan Sharansky, a Soviet dissident and prominent political figure in Israel, was born on January 20, 1948, into a family of journalists. After graduating from high school in 1966, Anatoly was accepted to study at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology. In the summer of 1972, he completed his studies at the institute and went on to work at the Moscow Institute of Oil and Gas.

Advocacy for human rights

After being denied permission to emigrate to Israel in 1973 due to security concerns, Sharansky became one of the leaders of the Soviet Jewish Refusenik movement. He not only focused on the issues of Jewish Refuseniks but also worked on the problems faced by Germans who wanted to immigrate to West Germany. Fluent in Ukrainian, he translated appeals from Ukrainian dissidents and press conferences of academician Andrei Sakharov for English-speaking journalists. Sharansky also assisted Christian Pentecostals and was involved in a wide range of human rights issues.

Later, Sharansky wrote: "Expressing solidarity with those who suffer alongside you was an extension of the natural inner freedom I felt when I became a Zionist." In May 1976, Professor Yuri Orlov announced the creation of the Moscow Helsinki Group, which aimed to monitor human rights in the USSR. Sharansky played an active role in drafting the Helsinki Declaration, which established this group. He proposed the creation of a permanent seminar on the topic of "The State of Human Rights in Russia."

Arrest and imprisonment

Sharansky's human rights activism in the Soviet Union came to a logical conclusion with his arrest on March 15, 1977. He was accused of treason, espionage, aiding hostile activities against the USSR, as well as anti-Soviet propaganda and agitation. These charges carried the threat of execution. From the time of his arrest until his trial in July 1978, Sharansky was held in the Lefortovo prison in Moscow. During the trial, he rejected all accusations against him and exposed their absurdity. On July 14, 1978, he was sentenced to 13 years of imprisonment.

As a result of political changes in the USSR and international pressure, Sharansky was released in February 1986 and immediately deported from the Soviet Union. His wife, Natalya (Avital), whom he had married in a Jewish religious ceremony shortly before his arrest, campaigned actively for his release throughout his nine years of imprisonment.

Continued activism and political career in Israel

In the West, Sharansky did not cease his advocacy for freedom of emigration. In December 1987, on the eve of a Soviet-American summit, he organized a major protest march in Washington, D.C. In 1989, he was awarded the Medal of Freedom by President Ronald Reagan. In Israel, Sharansky founded the Zionist Forum, a public organization that addressed the absorption issues of immigrants from the Soviet Union. In July 1995, he announced the creation of a new political movement for immigrants from the former USSR called "Israel BaAliyah" (translated as "Israel on the Rise").

In the parliamentary elections in May 1996, Sharansky's party won seven seats in the Knesset and joined the governing coalition. He became the Minister of Industry and Trade of Israel. In the government of Ehud Barak, he served as the Minister of Internal Affairs from July 1999. He left the Cabinet in protest against negotiations regarding the status of Jerusalem. Sharansky has stated that he will not compromise on the issue of Jerusalem's status.

Currently, Nathan Sharansky is a member of the Knesset, the leader of the "Israel BaAliyah" Party, which mainly represents immigrants from the former Soviet Union and advocates for their interests. He also serves as the co-chair of the Russian-Israeli Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation.