On June 16, during the International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg, Russian President Vladimir Putin was asked how his regime accuses Ukraine of Nazism, given that President Zelensky is Jewish himself. Putin replied that "according to my Jewish friends, Zelensky is not a Jew but a disgrace to the Jewish people," since those who in their eyes are Hitler supporters are now considered national heroes in Ukraine.
This is not the first time that senior figures in the Russian regime have touched on the sensitive point of Judaism and Nazism in the Ukrainian context, in order to strengthen their claims regarding the "neo-Nazi nature" of the country they invaded. Putin attributes the victory over the Nazis to Russia alone and ignores the fact that the Soviet Union's army comprised soldiers of various nationalities, including Ukrainians, who, according to various estimates, made up over a quarter of the Soviet army. The Russian regime is testing the limits – on the one hand, to discredit Ukraine as a "pro-Nazi" regime (the ultimate evil), while dimming the Jewish identity of some of its leaders and citizens who are being attacked; and on the other hand, not to be caught with banal antisemitism. However, they have not always stayed within the limits – when Foreign Minister Lavrov claimed Hitler had Jewish roots, Putin had to apologize to then-Prime Minister Bennett.
Each time, the essence of the exercise is the use of the Jewish theme (in the current case: "My Jewish friends from childhood tell me...") as a moral justification for the aggressive agenda of the Russian regime toward Ukraine. When the sentence begins with "A wise Jew once said..." any incitement, slander, or outright lie can be sold (at least that's what Putin and Lavrov think).
The Russian attempts are directed first and foremost against Ukraine and the Russian population. But the tool used here cynically is Judaism and the Jewish people – not as a political entity but as an international entity that crosses all borders. As long as the State of Israel sees itself, in accordance with its laws and heritage, as supporting and protecting the Jewish people even outside its borders, it must take a clear and unreserved position against these manipulative attempts to exploit the Jewish question for the purposes of unjustified political aggression.
On June 16, during the International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg, Russian President Vladimir Putin was asked how his regime accuses Ukraine of Nazism, given that President Zelensky is Jewish himself. Putin replied that "according to my Jewish friends, Zelensky is not a Jew but a disgrace to the Jewish people," since those who in their eyes are Hitler supporters are now considered national heroes in Ukraine.
This is not the first time that senior figures in the Russian regime have touched on the sensitive point of Judaism and Nazism in the Ukrainian context, in order to strengthen their claims regarding the "neo-Nazi nature" of the country they invaded. Putin attributes the victory over the Nazis to Russia alone and ignores the fact that the Soviet Union's army comprised soldiers of various nationalities, including Ukrainians, who, according to various estimates, made up over a quarter of the Soviet army. The Russian regime is testing the limits – on the one hand, to discredit Ukraine as a "pro-Nazi" regime (the ultimate evil), while dimming the Jewish identity of some of its leaders and citizens who are being attacked; and on the other hand, not to be caught with banal antisemitism. However, they have not always stayed within the limits – when Foreign Minister Lavrov claimed Hitler had Jewish roots, Putin had to apologize to then-Prime Minister Bennett.
Each time, the essence of the exercise is the use of the Jewish theme (in the current case: "My Jewish friends from childhood tell me...") as a moral justification for the aggressive agenda of the Russian regime toward Ukraine. When the sentence begins with "A wise Jew once said..." any incitement, slander, or outright lie can be sold (at least that's what Putin and Lavrov think).
The Russian attempts are directed first and foremost against Ukraine and the Russian population. But the tool used here cynically is Judaism and the Jewish people – not as a political entity but as an international entity that crosses all borders. As long as the State of Israel sees itself, in accordance with its laws and heritage, as supporting and protecting the Jewish people even outside its borders, it must take a clear and unreserved position against these manipulative attempts to exploit the Jewish question for the purposes of unjustified political aggression.