Tag #129872 - Interview #89857 (Mira Tudor)

Romania never broke the diplomatic relations with Israel. When all the socialist countries did it, Ceausescu didn’t. There was no conflict. Ceausescu wanted to act as a mediator between the Arabs and Israel. Of course, he wasn’t too successful, because both sides were too stubborn. He only did it to attract attention. But he didn’t break the relations. Under his regime, armies of Romanian artists went to Israel: Stela Popescu, Arsinel, Piersic, orchestras. They were very well received, halls were crowded, and the Romanians wept at their shows. [Ed. note: Stela Popescu (b. 1938 in Bessarabia), actress; Alexandru Arsinel (b. 1939 in Dolhasca, Suceava County), actor; Florin Piersic (b. 1939 in Cluj-Napoca), actor. The three of them went on tours abroad with comic plays, sketches and variety shows for the Romanian diaspora.] They took them shopping, they dressed them, they gave them presents. We had very good relations with Israel.