U.S. Hits Soviet ‘Anti-Semitism’

WASHINGTON — The State Department today accused the Soviet Union of fanning “the ugly flame of anti-Semitism” by its treatment of its Jewish citizens and said the issue poses an obstacle to better U.S.-Soviet relations.

Spokesman Bernard Kalb listed several recent incidents, including the arrests and sentencing of Hebrew teachers to labor camps on “crudely trumped-up criminal charges,” and said other Jewish citizens have been beaten, harassed, fired from their jobs and had their mail seized as part of a new Soviet campaign.