Moshe Decter

Moshe Decter (1921-2007) was a prominent activist for Israel and Jewish causes. He established and directed the Jewish Minorities Research bureau, served as executive secretary of the Conference on the Status of Soviet Jews and was director of research of the American Jewish Congress. He had been criticized by the fellow American Soviet Jewry movement activists who believed in avoiding open conflicts between the United States and the Soviet Union for secretly working for Nativ or officially for Lishkat Hakesher or The Liaison Bureau, an Israeli liaison organization that maintained contact with Jews living in the Eastern Bloc during the Cold War and encouraged aliyah, or immigration to Israel. After the collapse of the U.S.S.R., he worked as an editor of the Near East Report and served as an adviser to the Israeli Embassy in Washington.