On the finish of 2021, Israel and Russia marked 30 years of formal diplomatic relations. Whereas the Israeli media celebrated the event, most Russian media opted to miss or barely acknowledge it.
One newspaper, nevertheless, stood out: the privately-owned Kommersant, which devoted a complete interview to Israel’s then-foreign minister Yair Lapid. I keep in mind this vividly, as a result of I served on the time as tourism minister on behalf of Lapid’s celebration, Yesh Atid. For me, the interview in Kommersant didn’t come as a shock, as they have been at all times thought of extra professional Israel of their editorial stance.
My recollection of this episode resurfaced not too long ago whereas I learn a report a few choice by the European Courtroom of Justice, accusing the identical newspaper – and its proprietor – of antisemitism, for publishing an op-ed by Dmitry Medvedev.
As a former Israeli politician who dealt extensively with Israeli-Russian relations, and as somebody who intently adopted the interior processes in Russian society over a few years, I used to be intrigued. Studying the EU Courtroom choice in its entirety left me upset and uneasy.
Symbolism and antisemitism
In its judgment, the court docket argued that Medvedev’s reference to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s Jewish roots whereas evaluating his nation’s state of affairs beneath his rule to that of Germany, was antisemitic.
“Mr. Medvedev makes use of sturdy symbols linked to antisemitism and the oppression of Jews in the course of the Second World Struggle,” the judgment learn. Whereas I disagree with Mr. Medvedev, I’d not outline his assertion as antisemitic. As my good friend Natan Sharansky properly noticed, the Russian narrative may be seen by many as offensive, however certainly not antisemitic.
Lately too many politicians and governments, together with the EU itself, have been taking part in a harmful recreation, utilizing antisemitism as a instrument to advance their political targets. This strategy is changing into more and more perilous given the explosive rise in antisemitism in Europe. Portray each political opponent as an antisemite and each argument as antisemitic renders the struggle in opposition to actual situations of antisemitism meaningless.
The European Union court docket choice, which aimed to dismiss an enchantment by Uzbek billionaire businessman Alisher Usmanov in opposition to imposed sanctions, is in itself puzzling due to its implicit accusation of antisemitism.
Usmanov’s life accomplice and spouse of 30 years was Jewish. He’s additionally identified in Russia as a beneficiant donor to Jewish causes, regardless of being a Muslim.
Oddly, this isn’t the primary time antisemitism has discovered its approach into the EU sanctioning course of. Final September an inside EU working paper that laid the groundwork for sanctions in opposition to Roman Abramovich contained antisemitic tropes. The paper said that, “Abramovich, as the principle shareholder of Omsk Bacon, discovered nothing mistaken in benefiting from the annual slaughter of 300,000 pigs.” The European Jewish Affiliation described this “working paper” as “antisemitic, pure and easy.”
In one other incident, EU President Charles Michel was compelled to apologize to Moshe Kantor, former president of the European Jewish Congress, for together with Kantor’s Jewish roots within the secret proof which led to sanctions in opposition to him. In accordance with Politico, Michel wrote that the EU “sincerely regretted the error,” and notified Kantor that the proof “has been rectified.”
There are a lot of different current examples the place antisemitism was misused to both accuse or sling drained tropes for political causes, however the EU sanctions regime is an particularly attention-grabbing case.
In some situations, as reported by Politico, EU officers needed to depend on proof from blogs and Wikipedia entries to justify imposing sanctions on 1000’s of individuals. In different phrases, the place purpose ends, antisemitism can come into play.
Over the previous few years, Europe has skilled an alarming surge in true antisemitic incidents, prompting the European Fee to publicly tackle this disturbing development.
Current statistics compiled by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) reveal a 300% improve in antisemitic incidents in Austria, whereas London reviews greater than a thirteen-fold rise in antisemitic hate crimes throughout October, as in comparison with final yr. A current ADL research underscores the persistence of anti-Jewish tropes in 10 European international locations, revealing that roughly one in 4 people nonetheless harbors historically-rooted antisemitic beliefs.
Curiously, antisemitism may even be discovered within the European Courtroom itself.
In accordance with the UK’s Jewish Chronicle, a decide named Bostjan Zupancic was discovered to have shared excessive antisemitic content material on-line, claiming that Jews are the central enemies of Western civilization. This prompted calls to reexamine all of his judgments the place Jews have been concerned.
The modus operandi of weaponizing antisemitism should cease. The struggle in opposition to antisemitism needs to be directed in the direction of precise antisemites, sustaining deal with combating real situations of hatred and discrimination.
The author is a former tourism minister.
