Newsletter
Newsletter Support JNS

Federation runs campaign to write Rosh Hashanah letters to Evan Gershkovich

Lawyers for “The Wall Street Journal” reporter, imprisoned in Russia on espionage charges, will deliver them.

Evan Gershkovich
Evan Gershkovich. Source: Twitter.

Jewish Federations of North America is encouraging people to write to Evan Gershkovich, The Wall Street Journal reporter Russia has jailed since March 29, wishing him a happy Jewish New Year, 5784.

Federation will share the letters with Gershkovich’s family before compiling them into a document that lawyers will deliver to him.

“We are deeply concerned for Evan’s well-being,” stated JFNA CEO Eric Fingerhut. “As Jews around the world will be gathering with loved ones during Rosh Hashanah, one of the most important acts we can do as a collective community is to let him know that we are thinking of him and standing with him in solidarity.”

Russia has held Gershkovich on charges of espionage, which are largely seen as baseless. The reporter, 31, is being held at the notorious Lefortovo Prison, where Russian dissident and Nobel laureate Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn spent a night in 1974 before being deported.

The facility is known for keeping inmates perpetually isolated.

“In this political environment, he may be as reliable a supporter as possible that the Democratic caucus would sign off on for the position,” political science scholar Dan Schnur told JNS.
“Anyone who attempts to pose a threat or attack Israel will face devastating consequences,” said Danny Danon, Israeli ambassador to the global body.
“I think they’re much more susceptible to being targeted if a public official wants to target them, if a community wants to target them,” Rep. Josh Gottheimer told JNS.
Israel is building a barrier as part of efforts to bolster border defenses.