20 Facts About Nehemiah Levanon

Nehemiah Levanon was an Israeli intelligence agent, diplomat, head of the aliyah program Nativ, and a founder of kibbutz Kfar Blum.

Nehemiah Levanon became inspired by a member of Hashomer Hatzair to join the Labor Zionist movement.

Nehemiah Levanon stopped briefly in Vienna to assist local Netzach leaders.

Nehemiah Levanon returned to Israel in June 1948 to help the Yishuv during the War of Independence.

Nehemiah Levanon therefore worked in Sweden until ties were re-established later that year.

Nehemiah Levanon continued his work from Israel by joining Nativ's Tel Aviv headquarters.

Nehemiah Levanon set up a unit called Bar, composed of Israeli diplomats in the delegations to the US, UK, and France.

From 1956 to 1965, Nehemiah Levanon alternated his Bar activities with his administrative duties at Kfar Blum; he served three stints as the economic administrator of the kibbutz.

In 1965, Nehemiah Levanon was appointed to serve at the Israeli embassy in Washington, DC, as a representative of Bar.

Nehemiah Levanon met with officials at the US State Department and with members of the US Congress to keep them apprised of recent events.

In December 1968, Nehemiah Levanon received an emotional letter written by Moscovite engineering student Yasha Kazakov, originally directed to the Supreme Soviet.

Nehemiah Levanon leaked this letter to The Washington Post, spurring wide coverage in the West.

Nehemiah Levanon immigrated to Israel under the Hebraicized name Yaakov Kedmi, later becoming director of Nativ from 1992 to 1999.

In January 1970, Prime Minister Golda Meir appointed Nehemiah Levanon to serve as the head of Nativ.

Nehemiah Levanon's appointment came at a pivotal time in the cause of Soviet Jewry: public campaigns were being organized across the Jewish world in protest of the Soviet government's treatment of several dozen Zionist activists who were accused of planning a hijacking.

Nehemiah Levanon intentionally downplayed Israel's involvement with the conference so as to leave the impression that other, more powerful countries were especially interested in the issue.

Nehemiah Levanon allied with Senator Henry "Scoop" Jackson to pass a law denying most-favored nation trade status to countries that restricted the free emigration of its citizens.

Nehemiah Levanon, working with the Jewish Agency and philanthropist Max Fisher, tried to have European offices of American Jewish aid groups shut down.

Nehemiah Levanon wrote two memoirs: Code Name: Nativ, about the history of the organization, and The Road to the Banks of the Jordan, about his migration to Israel.

Nehemiah Levanon traveled to Russia several times after the collapse of the USSR, including a 1995 meeting with the former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev.