Prisoner of Zion

In Israel, prisoners of Zion (Hebrew: אֲסִירֵי צִיּוֹן, asirei Zion, singular: Hebrew: אסיר ציון, asir Zion) were Jews who were imprisoned or deported for Zionist activity in countries where such activity was prohibited. The former Speaker of the Knesset, Yuli Edelstein, and the former chairman of the executive of the Jewish Agency, Nathan Sharansky, were both prisoners of Zion in the Soviet Union. In 1992 an Israeli law made the status of the prisoner of Zion official; however, the status was in use long before.