Moshe Reuven Azman, Chief Rabbi of Ukraine, responded to Vladimir Putin, who called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky “a disgrace to the Jewish people.”
Recall that yesterday, during a speech at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin said that since childhood he has many Jewish friends who claim that “Zelensky is not a Jew, but a disgrace to the Jewish people.” Putin also said that he did not give any assessments to his colleagues, but was perplexed “how it is possible to support neo-Nazi rabble.”
The Chief Rabbi of Ukraine replied:
“I can personally say that I am proud of President Zelensky, that he did not run away and is doing everything to help the Ukrainian people. And not only me. I think that the whole world is proud of him. There are no neo-Nazis in Ukraine. There are decent people in Ukraine who defend their homeland”.
In a statement by the Jewish Federation of Ukraine, posted on official websitesays:
“Vladimir Zelensky is a leader who set an example of courage to his people and the whole world. Volodymyr Zelensky is a hero not only of the Jewish people, but of the entire political Ukrainian nation, which, of course, includes Jews. We are proud of the unshakable stamina of our president, who defends democratic values, freedoms and peaceful rights of Ukraine and our citizens.
There is no neo-Nazism in modern Ukraine. Especially at the state level. Everyday anti-Semitism, already one of the lowest in Europe, has practically not been observed in Ukraine since February 24, 2022. In a recent study, the Anti-Defamation League directly linked this to the authority of Volodymyr Zelensky, who led the entire nation, including Jews, in the fight against Russian aggression.
About the sounded accusation of Ukrainians in the crimes of the Holocaust. We would like to remind you that Ukraine is the fourth country in the world in terms of the number of Righteous Among the Nations (people who saved Jews during the Holocaust) – 2691 people, according to Yad Vashem. According to Ukrainian researchers, there are more than 15,000 Ukrainians-Righteous. On their account – hundreds of thousands of saved lives of Jews.
It was under President Volodymyr Zelensky that the Day of Ukrainians Who Saved Jews during World War II was established. It is celebrated at the state level on May 14. Streets, squares, squares are named after Ukrainians-Righteous, including within the framework of the initiative of the Jewish Confederation of Ukraine “Righteous of My City”, in all regions of Ukraine, streets, squares, squares are named, memorials are opened.
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s statement that Vladimir Zelensky is “not a Jew, but a disgrace to the Jewish people,” commented Ukrainian Ambassador to Israel Yevgeny Korniychuk. He said he was waiting for a reaction to this from the Israeli government. And if she doesn’t exist, then the planned visit to the country of the President’s wife, Elena Zelenskaya, may be disrupted. quotes “A country”:
“I think this is a KGB-style provocation and bad propaganda. We have to bear in mind that he is trying to spoil the ties between Israel and Ukraine in the run-up to the visit of the wife of President Zelensky to Israel, and he deliberately did this in the run-up to Shabbat. We expect the Israeli government “will strongly condemn the words of President Putin, otherwise it may lead to the cancellation of Zelenskaya’s visit. Putin’s comments are anti-Semitic and directed against the Jewish people. I think the Israeli people should be proud of the Ukrainian president, who is Jewish and bravely defends his country.”
The Israeli government has not yet responded to Putin’s statement about Zelensky.
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