The World - News from July 21, 1988

The first official Israeli mission to visit the Soviet Union since the Kremlin severed diplomatic ties with the Jewish state in 1967 will arrive in Moscow on July 28, an Israeli Foreign Ministry official said. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that Soviet visas, requested by Israel a year ago, were finally issued and would soon be picked up from the Soviet Embassy in The Hague. The Israeli delegation will be headed by Miron Gordon, a diplomat based in Rome, and include three or four other consular officials. The Netherlands has represented Israeli interests in Moscow since the Soviet Union severed diplomatic relations over the 1967 Middle East War.