Rules mean nothing as Israhell to let in Russian jews fleeing war they started

[yankeedoodle]

Israel considers expanding Return law to help Russians flee war
Avigdor Lieberman has proposed allowing those with one Jewish great-grandparent to make aliyah
https://www.thejc.com/news/israel/israel-considers-expanding-return-law-to-help-russians-flee-war-2sU9DhKmyV00aSNastIafk?reloadTime=1664805523312

Israel's government will today debate broadening the Law of Return to make it easier for Russian draft dodgers to make aliyah.

In the month since Vladimir Putin announced a call-up of reservists, 6,566 Russian citizens have arrived at Ben-Gurion airport, data released by Israel's Interior Ministry reveals.

Soviet-born Finance Minister Avigdor Lieberman has now proposed extending the right to emigrate to Israel to anyone with one Jewish great-grandparent.

Israeli law currently only allows those with at least one Jewish grandparent, and their spouse, to claim citizenship.

Mr Lieberman has suggested that the expansion could be a temporary measure.

The idea has proved controversial, however. Religious Zionist MK Simcha Rothman said the plan could mean "destroying Israel's Jewish identity".

On Sunday, Israel's cabinet approved a £22 million plan to help Russian and Ukrainian immigrants integrate into society.

Writing on Twitter, Mr Lieberman said: "We have now approved at the cabinet meeting a broad plan of approximately NIS 90 million for the reception of Jews and those entitled to Shabbat coming from Ukraine and Russia to the State of Israel.

"The program will immediately assist in the preparation of the State of Israel for the reception of aliyah from Russia.

"Aliyah is a strategic asset for the State of Israel and the biggest engine of growth that has been here since the establishment of the state.

"Around 40,000 Russian Jews have received immigration visas, while another 15,000 are in the process of aliyah, the Jerusalem Post reported. Their journey to Israel will not be easy, however.

Direct flights from Moscow to Tel Aviv are still available, but have sharply increased in price.

The cheapest currently available from El Al cost a minimum of £927. After October 3, none are available to book until November.

The Israeli government is considering helping Russian Jews travel to countries neighbouring Russia such as Georgia or Azerbaijan from which they can travel on to the Jewish state, i24 News reported.

Prime Minister Yair Lapid had reportedly asked El Al to increase its flights to Russia.

Since Putin launched an invasion of Ukraine in February, over 24,000 Russian Jews have arrived in Israel.

In March, Moscow Chief Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt fled Russia after he was reportedly pressured to lend his support to the war.

Speaking to the JC in August, former Soviet refusenik and Jewish Agency chair Natan Sharansky said Jews considering leaving Russia should get out while they still could.

"Without doubt, the moment the regime becomes more and more totalitarian, they will be looking for more and more internal and external enemies," he added.

"The moment it changes the Jews will become scapegoats again, then immediately antisemitism on the streets will come back. It hasn't happened yet, and let's hope it will not happen."

Discussing the newly announced integration plan, Israeli Absorption Minister Pnina Tamano-Shata said: "The State of Israel is a safe haven for all Jews in the world, including Russian Jews.

"We will ensure that all immigrants from Russia who come here due to complicated circumstances receive a comprehensive and appropriate package of measures to best integrate them into Israeli society."

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Russians desperately search for Jewish roots to flee military conscription
As Vladimir Putin enforces a military call-up, Russian men have hunted through their family history to find any proof of Jewish roots to claim Israeli citizenship
https://www.thejc.com/news/world/russians-desperately-search-for-jewish-roots-to-flee-military-conscription-5VsoE5csOKy4gwWvAonY42?reloadTime=1665684369118

Tens of thousands of Russians have fled their home country since the outbreak of war in Ukraine, and even more are desperately seeking to flee after Vladimir Putin announced a nationwide military call-up in September.

Many of those seeking to leave have scrambled to find any proof of Jewish roots in their family history to be able to flee to Israel, where the Law of Return allows anyone with at least one Jewish grandparent to obtain Israeli citizenship, as well as people who convert to Judaism.

Speaking to the Agence France-Presse (AFP) and the Times of Israel, 32-year-old Ivan Mitrofanov said: "In Europe, my Russian passport is toxic. I'll go to Israel where we're actually wanted."

Mitrofanov is an IT worker, and is therefore exempt from the current call-up announced three weeks ago, but he is desperately looking for proof that his grandparents were Jewish to be able to leave Russia as he expects more mobilisation waves, and possibly the closure of the borders to military-aged men.

For that reason, he said he is "rushing to leave as a long as the borders are open".

At municipal administration offices across the country, bureaucrats are dealing with a huge increase in people looking for records to back up their claims of Jewish heritage. One worker in Western Moscow, Tatiana Kalazhnikova estimated that 9 in 10 inquiries were now related to people seeking confirmation of their allegedly Jewish roots.

She added sarcastically: "They want to leave Russia... for Israel where war never ends."

The desperation to leave Russia is such that the authorities attempted to close the Jewish Agency in Russia - which assists in emigration to Israel - through the courts, sparking a diplomatic crisis with Israel. The future of the agency remains unclear.

Five new private agencies have also opened to help Russians emigrate, showing just how many Russians are choosing Israel.

Many of those contacting the authorities for help are mothers, desperate to get their sons out of the country. One mother at a Red Cross centre in Moscow said: "Getting an Israeli passport is the only way for my son not to go to fight in Ukraine."

Vladimir Paley, a specialist in Jewish genealogy, said: "With the mobilization, I mainly reply to the calls of mothers looking to expatriate their sons."

The 55-year-old said that he had received "10 times more requests" from both Russians and Ukrainians since the conflict began in February.

Israel says that applications from Russia and Ukraine have tripled, and the Central Bureau of Statistics said that 20,000 people arrived from Russia and over 12,000 from Ukraine.

One of Paley's clients said that people are fleeing "out of fear and disgust".

However, leaving Russia is a frantic process, leading to the sudden break-up of families after he decision to flee is often made in a matter of hours.

Andrei Trubetskoy, a 58-year-old former official of the Russian interior ministry, told the AFP that he realised that he wanted to leave back in February. He said that he "no longer wanted to have anything to do" with his own country.

He and his historian wife searched archives and discovered that he had a great-grandfather who was a Chasidic Jew, so the couple started their preparations to leave, including learning Hebrew.

However, his wife changed her mind and the last minute, and the couple ended up divorcing. Trubetskoy now intends to leave for Israel alone.

Lyubov Borussyak, a sociologist at the Free Moscow University who has surveyed 150 families who chose to leave, described the decision to leave as "often impulsive".

She said: "Their goal is not to move to another country, but to leave Russia. It's an emigration of panic and fear."

[yankeedoodle]

Exiled Moscow rabbi says Jews will become Russia's scapegoats
Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt again advised Jews to leave the country
https://www.thejc.com/news/world/exiled-moscow-rabbi-says-jews-will-become-russia's-scapegoats-yJ7UfyYSnUDDYbcaoUYdc?reloadTime=1672513616311

The exiled chief rabbi of Moscow has again advised all Jews living in Russia to leave while they still can, before they can be made into scapegoats for the hardships created by the war in Ukraine.

Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt, in an interview with The Guardian, said: "We're seeing rising antisemitism while Russia is going back to a new kind of Soviet Union, and step by step the iron curtain is coming down again. This is why I believe the best option for Russian Jews is to leave,

"When we look back over Russian history, whenever the political system was in danger you saw the government trying to redirect the anger and discontent of the masses towards the Jewish community."

For most of the 20th century, the Russian Jewish population had been decreasing as they emigrated to America and Europe, and later to Israel.

In a 1926 census, the Jewish population living in the Soviet Union was estimated to be 2,672,000. Today, there are fewer than 200,000 Jews living in Russia, out of a total population of 143 million.

Mr Goldschmidt estimated that since the war began, 25-30 per cent of Russian Jews had either left or were planning to do so. The total number of Russians who have fled the country since the February invasion of Ukraine varies, but is thought to be around 200,000.

In July, the Russian government shut down the Russian branch of the Jewish agency, an organisation that promotes immigration to Israel. In September, President Vladimir Putin warned against Russian Jews from leaving the country, saying they had a duty to contribute to Russia.

Mr Goldschmidt noted that a sizeable portion of the Jewish community in Ukraine had also left since their country was invaded, which are now living as refugees in neighbouring countries as well as Israel. According to German officials, over 10,000 Jewish and non-Jewish Ukrainian refugees have fled to Germany.

Mr Goldschmidt, who left Russia for Hungary in March and resigned from his role as Moscow's Chief Rabbi in July, also commented on rising antisemitism levels in the United States.

He said: "For many years, Jews in the US believed that it was an exception, that whatever happened in Europe and other countries could never happen there. But over the past three years there have been more attacks on Jews there than in Europe.

"What is changing is the political system is much more polarised but also the discourse has been upended by social media. The polarisation we're seeing has made antisemitism much more acceptable."

The Anti-Defamation League recorded a record 2,717 antisemitic incidents in the US last year.