ISRAEL CHARGES ALLEGED RUSSIAN MAFIA BOSS.

Gregory Lerner, who emigrated to Israel in 1989 and is believed to be a Russian mafia member, was charged on September 8 with blackmail and fraud — including an alleged attempt to blackmail former Israeli prime minister Shimon Peres. (AP, September 7) Lerner was arrested in May on suspicion of having defrauded Russian banks of more than $80 million and of a possible connection to several murders. An Israeli newspaper said on August 25 that the investigation into the Lerner case could embarrass Boris Yeltsin’s government. (See Monitor, August 26)

Yeltsin Defers to Lukashenka and Russia-Belarus Union.