Georgia on His Mind: Republic's Ambassador Demands Hebrew Name Change

Since assuming his new post about two months ago, Georgian Ambassador to Israel Lasha Zhvania has been waging an unusual campaign - to change his country's Hebrew name, Gruzia. In a letter he sent recently to the Academy of the Hebrew Language, the ambassador asked that his country's name be changed to its correct name, Georgia. Zhvania's request was backed up by quotations from the Hebrew Encyclopedia that prove that until the 1970s, his country was indeed called Georgia in Hebrew.