ABSTRACT
The East European division organized an inter-departmental meeting on developments in the Soviet Union and the assessment of results following the attempted coup. The important discussion was chaired by the Minister of Foreign Affairs David Levy. Reuven Merhav had a falling out with Minister David Levy, who hastened to accept his resignation. Levy appointed Joseph Hadass and Hadass called a meeting with Yosef Govrin and Yaacov Cohen, the head of the economics division, and Moshe Ben-Yaacov, the head of the ministry's administration. Diplomatic relations receded into the background in the first days of October 1991, as Ukraine commemorated the 50th anniversary of the tragic events at Babi Yar. The government of Ukraine had decided to mark the date of the massacre by the German occupying forces. The series of killings began on 29 September 1941. It continued for two years in a ravine called Babi Yar, where Jews were forcibly marched out, shot and buried in mass graves.
