MEP comments on threat of Holocaust in Russia over shut-down of major Jewish agency

Russian society is saturated with anti-Semitism, and now with the closure of the Jewish Agency for Israel, Sohnut, which disallowed further repatriation of Jews to Israel, there is a risk of a repeat of the Holocaust.

That’s according to Petras Auštrevičius, Member of the European Parliament from Lithuania, who spoke with Guildhall, Ukrinform reports.

“This interdiction of the Jewish Agency is unprecedented and absolutely impertinent. I suppose that it is a result of the Russian government’s fear to lose more and more highly qualified citizens. The Jewish agency’s main goal is helping Jews in the diaspora to emigrate to the state of Israel; and since the 24th of February, among Russian Jews, the number of those considering emigration to Israel has undoubtedly risen,” MEP said.

“AfD is the only German party that has always supported the state of Israel in its fight against terror and delegitimization. I regard this attack on the free decision of Russian Jews whether they want to emigrate to the Jewish state or not, as deeply antisemitic, as well as Mr Lavrov’s insinuations about Hitler being a Jews. If Israel will decide now to increase its support for Ukraine this won’t be neither surprising nor convictable in my opinion,” added Auštrevičius.

Earlier, MEP Michael Gahler (Germany), commenting on the process of liquidation of Sohnut in Russia, said that anti-Semitism has always been inherent in Russia, and referred to the Russian government as “fascist.”

It should be recalled that tensions in relations between Russia and Israel arose in connection with the decision of the Russian Ministry of Justice to file a claim with a court to ban local operations of the Jewish Agency Sohnut. The organization has offices in nine cities across the Russian Federation, employing several Israeli emissaries and 100 staffers who are Russian citizens. The agency noted that the legal settlement of the issue is impossible, therefore, they plan to relocate the office to Israel. Applications are now being processed online.

The decision to ban the organization is believed to be due to Israel's position on Ukraine.

Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid instructed the country's Foreign Ministry to draft a number of political measures to be taken against the Russian Federation. They will be set in motion if the Jewish Agency in Russia is liquidated.

It also was reported that a number of employees of the Jewish Agency for Israel had been wiretapped by Russian intelligence.