Yosef Mendelevitch issues in 1969. Being repeatably refused the right to immigration, he became one of the leaders of the Dymshits–Kuznetsov hijacking affair, recounted in his 2012 memoir, "Unbroken Spirit". As punishment, he was imprisoned for eleven years. During the imprisonment he was punished for keeping Jewish precepts. In 1981, after a worldwide struggle, he was released and immigrated to Israel. He served in Soviet prisons with famous Jewish dissident Natan Sharansky (amongst others). In Sharansky's memoir "Fear No Evil" he describes innovative ways Mendelevitch used to communicate with Sharansky, such as through both toilet bowls and radiators. Mendelevitch had always exhibited
Day of Prayer for the Peace of Jerusalem is endorsed by chief rabbi Yona Metzger, former USSR Prisoner of Zion and Knesset Member Natan Sharansky, chairman of the Knesset Christian Allies Caucus (KCAC), Yuri Shtern, and the Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem, Yigal Amedi and the Knesset Christian Allies Caucus. Other participants are Christian evangelists, authors and performers such as Joyce Meyer, The Newsboys , Bishop TD Jakes, Michael W. Smith, and Kenneth Copeland. The first globally publicized "link of prayer" for peace from Jerusalem was in June, 1993 organized by Dan Mazar's Jerusalem Christian Review, a Jerusalem-based archaeological journal. As opposed to the more exclusively Evangelical Christian event,