Yosef Mendelevitch

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Yosef Mendelevitch (or Mendelovitch) (b. 1948 in Riga), was a well-known Jewish refusenik in the former Soviet Union who gained fame for his adherence to Zionism and public attempts to emigrate to Israel at a time when it was considered to be against the law in the USSR. He was one of the participants of the Dymshits-Kuznetsov hijacking affair. As punishment, he was imprisoned in Vladimir Prison in Siberia for eleven years. In 1981 he was released and immigrated to Israel.

He was known as a "Prisoner of Zion". Since moving to Israel he adopted Orthodox Judaism and has become a rabbi affiliated with the Religious Zionist Movement.