Yaacov Sharett Accuses Soviet Union of Framing ‘ Fake Espionage Charge’

Yaacov Sharett, First Secretary of the Israeli Embassy at Moscow, who was ousted by the Soviet Government this weekend, accused the USSR on his arrival here last night, on his way home to Jerusalem, of trumping up “a fake espionage charge” against him.

Mr. Sharett said that he and his wife were arrested last Thursday, at Riga. He stated that both he and Mrs. Sharett had been “handled roughly” by the Russian police.

In announcing his ouster, Tass, the official Soviet news agency, had declared that the Israeli diplomat had been “caught red-handed in espionage.”

Yaacov Sharett is a son of Moshe Sharett, Israel’s erstwhile Prime Minister, who was the Government’s Foreign Minister for a number of years.