Ever since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in late February, Russian Jews have
been emigrating to Israel in growing numbers. Angered over the invasion and
fearful of persecution, some 20,500 of the estimated 165,000 Jews in Russia
have left for Israel, and more are expected to follow.
اضافة اعلان
The departures are part of a larger Russian exodus
fueled by opposition to the war, but they are also a sign that tensions between
Russia and Israel are mounting. How this relationship evolves will have
political and security implications for Israel and the entire Middle East.
Currently, the leadership of Russia’s Jewish
community appears divided on how to respond to Russia’s war in Ukraine. On the
one hand, Rabbi Berel Lazar, the chief rabbi of Russia, has called for peace
and offered to mediate, but also attended Russia’s Victory Day parade in May —
a tacit nod to the Kremlin. On the other hand, Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt, the
chief rabbi of Moscow, fled the country after refusing to condone the conflict.
Russia’s Jews are more united in their historical
memory. With strong ties to Ukraine (as well as Moldova and Belarus), Russian
Jews suffered mightily during previous periods of unrest in the country; those
who left now feared that history could easily repeat itself.
While there is no overt state-directed antisemitism
in Russia currently, several events have raised concern within the Russian
Jewish community. In March, for example, after Russian-Jewish journalist Alexei
Venediktov was fined for speaking Ukrainian on a radio show, the entrance to
his home was vandalized with antisemitic symbols and a severed pig’s head.
Moscow has also threatened to shut down the local
branch of the Jewish Agency for Israel, an organization founded in 1929 to
facilitate Jewish immigration to Israel.
Even the invasion of Ukraine was legitimized using
an antisemitic subtext. Russian propaganda claimed that war was necessary to
“de-Nazify” the country, and it used as evidence the presence of the Azov
battalion, a Ukrainian far-right militia with neo-Nazi roots that was involved
in the siege of Mariupol.
And yet, the far-right in Ukraine was trounced in
the country’s last election, and Ukraine’s elected president, Volodymyr
Zelenskyy, is himself Jewish. When this was pointed out to Russian foreign
minister, Sergei Lavrov, during an interview in May with an Italian news
channel, his response –— that Hitler had Jewish origins — caused outrage in
Israel.
“The lowest level of racism against Jews is to
accuse Jews of antisemitism,” Prime Minister Yair Lapid had said.
Netanyahu, who prides himself on his close ties to President Vladimir Putin, has accused Lapid of endangering Israel’s “measured, balanced, and responsible friendship” with Russia, and for creating a crisis that has endangered Israel’s national security.
This episode marked a turning point in contemporary
Russia-Israel relations. Whereas the previous prime minister, Naftali Bennett,
was restrained in his comments regarding the war, Lapid has been stridently
critical. In April, after reports emerged of a massacre of civilians in Bucha,
Lapid, who was then foreign minister, accused Russian forces of committing war
crimes (Bennett, by contrast, said nothing). Israel-Russia ties deteriorated
further after Lapid became prime minister in July.
Amid the
heightened tensions, Israel faces new security challenges with regional
implications. For instance, if Moscow moved to end a security arrangement that
has given Israel relative freedom to attack Iranian and Hezbollah positions in
Syria, it could sharpen the proxy war underway between Iran and Israel, which
might, in turn, suck in other states in the region.
Russia also maintains a naval base in the
Mediterranean and could use its assets to complicate Israeli plans to export
gas to Europe.
Military flare-ups have already occurred. In May,
Russia fired S-300 anti-aircraft missiles at an Israeli aircraft in Syria. In
June, Russia threatened to refer Israel to the UN Security Council after Israel
bombed the Damascus airport, which Israeli officials said was being used by
Iranian arms smugglers. Then in July, Russia fired a “warning shot” at an
Israeli F-16 fighter jet entering Syrian airspace.
Russia-Israel relations are also influencing
Israel’s domestic politics. As Israelis prepare to head to the polls in
November for legislative elections, many are watching to see if Lapid’s tough
stance vis-à-vis Russia will pay off at the ballot box. (Israel’s security
agency, Shin Bet, has even reportedly asked Russia not to interfere in the
balloting, though the Israeli government has denied the report).
For his part, former prime minister Benjamin
Netanyahu sees Lapid’s hawkish stance on Russia as an opportunity for his own
political future. Netanyahu, who prides himself on his close ties to President
Vladimir Putin, has accused Lapid of endangering Israel’s “measured, balanced,
and responsible friendship” with Russia, and for creating a crisis that has
endangered Israel’s national security.
The war in Ukraine has produced a broad geopolitical
shift in the region — it is no coincidence, after all, that when US President
Joe Biden visited Israel in July, Putin was meeting with the presidents of Iran
and Turkey in Tehran. But as Russian Jews vote with their feet and new
alliances are formed amid the backdrop of war, the international community must
remind Russia and Israel that their relationship has implications far beyond
their own borders.
Dnyanesh Kamat is a political analyst who focuses on the
Middle East and South Asia. He also consults on socio-economic development for
government and private-sector entities. Syndication Bureau.
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