Israel fears rise of anti-Semitism in Russia and influx of Russian Jews

The Israeli foreign ministry has noted that the economic and political situation in Russia is deteriorating, resulting in a possible rise in anti-Semitism in the country and a consequent increase in the numbers of Russian Jews migrating to Israel, the Walla! website has reported.

Blaming the situation in Ukraine since last year, a foreign ministry official said that it has had a negative impact on Russian society in general. There are concerns about a rise in anti-Semitism, leading to the number of Jews seeking to migrate from Russia to Israel rising by 90 per cent.

Israel usually capitalises on the rise of anti-Semitism in other countries to encourage Jews to move to the Zionist state. Reports like the one quoted by Walla! are often prepared by the foreign ministry’s Jewish Centre for Public Affairs (JCPA), which is considered to be one of Israel’s intelligence services. Moreover, the ministry report confirmed that the number of anti-Semitic attacks in Russia has actually been stable in recent years, and that they are in any case relatively rare incidents.

Official statistics indicate that there are 158,000 people registered as Jews with the Russian population registry. Israel, though, claims that the number ranges between 200,000 and 300,000, with 100,000 living in Moscow alone.

The report described Russian President Vladimir Putin as “good for Jews” and claims that Russia’s Jews have enjoyed economic well-being and good security conditions in the past ten years. Putin has, it is said, close relations with Jews in Russia, especially religious leaders.

This report was released at a time when Israel is wary of the Russian military presence in Syria as well as the possibility that the Israeli army might not be to continue its military operations in Syrian territory.