ABSTRACT
The immigration to Israel of Soviet Jews has occupied a special place in the history of the relations between the Soviet Union and Israel. Israeli sovietologists paid special attention to the problem of Jewish emigration from the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) as an important factor in the development of relations between the two states. The question of Jewish emigration was tackled both independently and within the framework of the problem of the status of Jews in the Soviet Union and the campaign of the Soviet leadership against Zionism. The Soviet stand on Jewish emigration was actually formulated before the establishment of the State of Israel, at the time of the discussion of the Palestine question by the world community. The analysis of the assessment by Soviet diplomats in Israel of the Israeli response to the 'situation of the Jews in the People's Democracies' makes it clear that they did not question the correctness of Soviet policy.
