Opinion
It’s not just Ukrainians trying to flee to Israel
There is a growing feeling that the future is becoming far bleaker under the Putin regime
March 25, 2022 12:41
2 min read
There is a growing feeling that the future is becoming far bleaker under the Putin regime
March 25, 2022 12:41In recent weeks there has, rightly, been much focus on Ukrainian Jewish attempts to make aliyah. That community, a group that has suffered persecution and oppression for centuries, has once again fallen victim to war and has been forced to flee. It is estimated that since the onset of war earlier this year, more than 7,000 Ukrainian Jewish refugees have arrived in Israel.
But little has been written about the Russian Jewish community, some of whom are also attempting to make aliyah. Appalled by Putin’s strict crackdown on freedom of speech, shutdown of independent media outlets and criminalisation of opposition to the war, as well as a wave of international sanctions on Russia that could drive many in the country into poverty, many Russian Jews are trying to flee the Russian Federation. An artist in Moscow told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that “everyone who has any hope of obtaining citizenship and leaving Russia is trying to do it”.
In the last three weeks, 1,400 entry visas have been granted to Russians by Israel. The Jewish Agency, which is responsible for overseeing immigration to Israel, describes the influx as “an unprecedented operation”. While the process to make aliyah has been simplified, serious delays to applications remain and there are still many hoops through which aliyah applicants must jump. These include the sanctions imposed by the international community, which have made it more difficult for potential aliyah applicants to sell their assets and move money abroad, as well as the fact that Aeroflot, the Russian airline, is no longer operating international flights.
The impulse for emigration is shared by much of the Russian population, whatever their background. But there are specific reasons for the Jewish community, in particular, to carefully consider its future in the Russian Federation.
Antisemitism has become a popular theme amongst the country’s elite. Last year, former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev said that Ukraine was being led by “weak people who seek only to fill their pockets”, drawing on long-established antisemitic stereotypes of Jews as wealthy individuals who exploit others for their own financial gain.
He also described Ukraine’s Jewish prime minister’s behaviour as reminiscent of the Sonderkommando in Nazi Germany, branding him “disgusting, corrupt, and faithless.”
The liberal use of the “Nazi” insult has become one of the themes of Putin’s propaganda campaign surrounding the war, as he has continually argued that he invaded Ukraine to “de-Nazify” the country.
The narrative has been a long time in the making. The Ukrainian post-Maidan government has consistently been derided as a “fascist junta” by the Kremlin, which has sought to animate and exploit emotions linked to the Second World War.
With increasingly antisemitic rhetoric emanating from officials, there are fears that the same bigotry has been percolating through the masses.
There are many reasons why Israel in particular is attractive to Russian Jews, including the geographic proximity, the large diaspora community there, and the historic cultural ties between the two countries.
Following the lifting of the ban on Jewish refusenik emigration in 1971, around 150,000 made aliyah. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, there was a further wave, with more than 380,000 Jews from former Soviet states making aliyah. This was in response to economic and political instability, which in turn bred antisemitism and fears of violent repercussions for the Jewish community.
These same concerns can be seen in the contemporary climate. Aliyah from the former Soviet Union once again increased in 2014 (including a 190 per cent increase from Ukraine), and the financial crisis of 2018 and deterioration in democratic principles and free speech in Russia gave the idea another boost, according to former chairman of the Jewish Agency, Natan Sharansky.
The Russian Jewish population no longer feels safe under Putin’s rule. We know all too well the history of scapegoating Jews and blaming them for financial, economic, and political turmoil. Russia, with its long history of antisemitism, has been no anomaly.
It is critical that Israel continues to streamline this process, to make aliyah applications simpler for those who are fleeing this 21st century dictator.
Isabel Sawkins is a research fellow at the Henry Jackson Society. She is in the final months of completing a PhD on Holocaust memory in Russia