ANTI-SEMITISM IN ISRAEL
(Investigation)
Many new immigrants to Israel have found to their horror that they encounter there anti-Semitic harassment and humiliation from non-Jews who arrived, as they did, from the former USSR. They had hoped to escape anti-Semitism, or at least to be protected from it, when they came to in Israel. Anti-Semitic acts are largely ignored by officials in Israel, in spite of the fact that the media has informed the public scores of times about this horrific phenomenon. Indeed, anyone who tries to bring this problem to the attention of the public risks being branded an “enemy of aliyah.” On the other hand, there are many institutions and associations in Israel that protect the interests of, for example, families of mixed marriages, which allegedly suffer from discrimination.
It is no secret that anti-Semitism is prevalent all over the world. I have compiled a vast collection of newspaper clippings reporting numerous angry statements made by Israeli politicians regarding anti-Semitic acts abroad, while similar incidents that occur in Israel are being ignored. Neo-Nazi and anti-Semitic propaganda spread throughout the CIS regarding non-Jews meeting the Law-of-Return criteria, who were granted Israeli citizenship on the basis of that law, is having a strong influence there. Moreover, millions of copies of provocative anti-Semitic materials are being published all over the former USSR .
As early as November 1990, a Russian-language daily, Novosti Nedeli, published a letter written by residents of an absorption center in Herzliya, which stated:
Ten males between the ages of eighteen and forty came to our center. They stated openly that they were not Jews and that they had bought birth certificates with Jewish surnames to enable them to flee the USSR. Our life in the absorption center has turned into absolute misery every since their arrival. The newcomers are constantly drunk; they brawl; they call us “zhids” openly and proclaim that they hate Israel and the Jewish people.
Since 1990 the press has regularly reported cases of anti-Semitic statements that Jewish immigrants hear, statements like, “A pity Hitler didn’t finish you all off.” Over the course of time, such statements have become standard fare in the Russian-language press in Israel. Following are some examples of anti-Semitic incidents reported in 1999:
¨ In January of 1999, an inscription appeared on the wall of the “Binyan Klal” building in Jerusalem: “Death to the zhids; may Russia be glorified.” Under this slogan was an SS sign .
¨ On February 26, 1999, Novosti Nedeli reported on the appearance of swastikas and slogans such as “Long live great Hitler” and “The end of the Jews is near” on the building of the Sharon cinema in Netanya .
¨ On June 24, 1999, the Hebrew-language paper Yom Leyom reported on anti-Semitic slogans and swastikas painted by teenagers from the CIS on the walls of a school in Ashkelon .
¨ The July 15, 1999 issue of the Russian-language daily Vesti published a photograph taken in Ashkelon showing a swastika and an inscription proclaiming “Death to zhids” written in Russian; the author wrote that swastikas and other, similar inscriptions can be found in many locations throughout Ashkelon (this information has been confirmed by numerous statements) .
¨ On August 1, 1999, it was reported in Kiriyat Yam that an anti-Semitic organization of teenagers, known as “olim,” were breaking furniture and fixtures in a local synagogue, and had harassed people there (reported in Hed Hakrayot” and others) .
¨ The Vesti of September 7, 1999 published an article about anti-Semitic acts of non-Jewish immigrants.
¨ The September 23, 1999 edition of Maariv published a petition of Jewish immigrants from the CIS protesting the scourge of anti-Semitism in Israel.
¨ On October 13, the Jerusalem Russian-language weekly Our Jerusalem, published a brief article about a male student of the “Boer” school in Jerusalem who stated candidly, “I am a fascist and I am going to kill all the Jews.” The boy wears a swastika openly, and threatens to return with his fascist friends. The school administration has proven totally ineffective in responding to this .
¨ On October 17, 1999, the Israeli public learned about attacks to three Bnei Brak synagogues, where walls were covered with swastikas and inscriptions of “Long live Hitler.” The information about that event was published in the Russian and Hebrew press, and it was reported that the perpetrators of the attacks had been identified. It was discovered that they were non-Jewish teenagers who immigrated from the CIS. All the media that had reported it made no further mention of the event afterwards. A year later I approached the local police station to inquire concerning any follow-up of the investigation, and I was told, “… an indictment has been issued … the perpetrators have been found guilty by a juvenile court” .
It should be noted that I have contacted the local police in connection with each and every anti-Semitic act known to me. I discovered that the police have intervened only in the last case (Haifa police chief Reuven Ariav wrote, “The aforementioned cases have not been investigated and I do not intend to investigate them.” .
Following are a number of events that occurred in the year 2000:
¨ The January 1, 2000 issue of Chadashot Mishpacha reported an attempted synagogue arson in Kiriyat Gat; near midnight on Shabbat night, December 31, 1999, when the millennium (according to the Christian calendar) began, a burning object was thrown through a synagogue window. Miraculously, the fire did not destroy the building. Again, the perpetrators were Russian-speaking teenagers .
¨ On February 23, 2000, at a football match between the Israeli and Russian teams, held at the Haifa stadium, spectators were shocked to hear numerous “olim” – fans of the Russian team – shouting slogans such as “Crash the zhids”.
¨ In Arad, a local Russian-language newspaper reported on February 25, 2000 that someone who was not identified had painted Nazi signs on synagogue walls throughout the town.
¨ The October 4, 2000 issue of Vesti published a petition signed by 96 Jewish immigrants from the CIS protesting the scourge of anti-Semitism in Israel .
The above list is far from complete, and it does not include numerous letters to various newspapers in which readers described acts of anti-Semitism in Israel and the feelings they caused.
Concerning the above data, I had decided to appeal to the Israeli authorities and ask them to answer the following questions:
A) What is the reason for their silence and failure to respond to anti-Semitic acts in Israel, as opposed to their general condemnation of similar incidents abroad?
B) What measures are being taken to protect Jews – new immigrants in particular – from anti-Semites who have arrived in Israel, whether in accordance with of the Law of Return or in violation thereof?
C) Has the time not come to pass laws against anti-Semitic acts, similar to laws existing in many European countries?
I have sent this appeal to ministers, to members of Knesset and to the leading Israeli newspapers. The only reply I received was the following, brief letter from the office of the minister Melchior (who was responsible for Israeli-Diaspora relations at the time):
To: Zalman Gilichensky
We have given your appeal due consideration. The minister thinks that the problem can best be addressed by expanding Jewish education, both for new immigrants in Israel and for potential immigrants in the CIS prior to their aliyah. This should be approached through teaching basic principles of Judaism in a spirit of openness and moderation, in such a manner as to develop, in those immigrants who are not Jews by halachic standards, compassion toward the Jewish tradition, and to prevent the phenomenon that you have described in you letter.
Aviad Friedman
the Ministry director
It is clear from his reply that the minister had simply ignored the specific questions I had raised. Instead of suggesting a means for protecting those people who had been guaranteed safety from anti-Semitism here in Israel; rather than defending those who had been deceived and who have been suffering here, Mr. Melchior suggests that we invest our energies in educating those who persecute them.
In light of all this, I decided to launch a small, personal investigation, and published an ad in the Vesti newspaper. I wanted to find the real scope of the phenomenon of anti-Semitism in Israel. In my ad I requested that anyone who had encountered anti-Semitism in Israel inform me about their experience (I listed my home telephone number in the ad). The ad ran for two months, beginning December 1, 1999 .
The number of calls I received exceeded my expectations. In fact, people continue to call me, even now. Following are a few of the most typical examples. The names of some of the victims have been omitted on request.
¨ In November 1, 1995, Yediot Acharonot published an article entitled “Anti-Semitism in Kiryat-Gat:
non-Jewish immigrants oppress Jewish immigrants” (authored by Yediot
Acharonot correspondent David Regev, see Appendix 18), which relates the
story of Alla Zitzer, a Jewish repatriate who experienced anti-Semitic
harassment at the hands of her non-Jewish neighbors. “A pity that Fascists did
not exterminate all of you in Russia,” say the neighbors.
Other Jewish families tell similar stories: “We have run from anti-Semitism in
Russia, and now we encounter anti-Semitism here in Israel. We feel desperate.”
Those and other cases prompted me to turn to the Kiryat-Gat chief of police,
Henry Ben-Raanan. His response to me was, “…Mrs Zitzer has lodged a complaint
in connection with her being abused in 1995” .
I phoned Mrs. Zitzer and asked her to comment on the case, mentioning the
reply I had received from Chief Ben-Raanan. She said, “I have tried several
times to lodge complaints about the anti-Semitism [not abuse-Z.G.] I
encountered, however, the police categorically refused to register these
complaints. Nothing could be done. I don’t believe you will have any success
with complaints.…” I heard such statements many times from a number of
immigrants.
¨ Irina Loeva of Ashdod was harassed by an anti-Semitic, non-Jewish immigrant. She filed a complaint with the police (unsuccessfully), and for several days after the incident did not leave her home as she was too traumatized to go out; she notes that in her old country she never came across such sharp anti-Semitic statements.
¨ During his regular service in the Israeli army, Roni from Haifa was harassed by a non-Jewish soldier who had come to Israel from Russia. Roni believes that the most frightening fact in his case is that the soldier was servicing military planes belonging to the Israeli Air Force.
¨ Samuil Shlomovich of Arad was harassed verbally by anti-Semites on many occasions, and in one case was attacked physically.
¨ Mark and his parents, of Nahariya, complained to the police that Mark’s former (non-Jewish) wife was harassing them with abusive, anti-Semitic statements.
¨ Sergei, a teenager from Kiriyat Gat, reported that in his group the favorite topic of conversation was the fighting with “Moroccans,” whom they called “zhids.” Sergei himself was called “zhid” when he refused to give money to those in the group who demanded it of him. He stated that there were no Jews in that group. His parents complained to the school administration, but the situation did not improve, and they had to transfer Sergei to another school.
¨ Esther Babinsky of Nesher (near Haifa) came to Israel many years ago; she relates that lately her non-Jewish neighbors have been making nasty remarks about Jews, (for example, “Jews had destroyed Russia,” and scores of similar statements), and that the situation has escalated.
¨ Daniel Kolker of Tel-Aviv reported anti-Semitic slogans shouted in Tel-Aviv at the “Russian” market, such as, “It’s a pity that Hitler did not finish you all off.” Daniel himself was attacked by anti-Semites.
¨ Olga Leshchenko of Karnei-Shomron has reported a non-Jew who lives in her town and regularly curses his Jewish neighbors and the State of Israel, making such remarks as “It’s a pity that there were not enough gas chambers for all of you.”
¨ Michael from Lod was attacked physically by a Romanian worker; the attack was clearly for anti-Semitic motives.
¨ Anna of Jerusalem complained that her ex-husband had harassed her. She stated that he had used her to get Israeli citizenship, after which he began to torment her verbally, using anti-Semitic expressions. The woman intends to leave Israel and return to Russia to escape him.
¨ Efim Shinderman from Netanya has heard anti-Semitic statements of non-Jewish immigrants to Israel, such as, “If there is a war with Arabs, we will be shooting you in your backs.”
¨ Valery and his wife, of Rishon LeZion, were beaten by three drunken males who spoke Russian (two of whom were Israeli citizens, the third a tourist from the CIS); they were shouting such slurs as, “Beat the zhids.” A complaint was lodged with the police and a file opened.
¨ Lina Vaisberg of Ashdod has been experiencing anti-Semitic harassment by her non-Jewish female neighbor for quite some time. She complained to the police, but nothing was done, so she tried to bring her case to the attention of the deputy-mayor (from the Yisrael Ba’aliya party). At the deputy-mayor’s office she was asked about the purpose of her visit, and when she started telling her story she was cut short with the words, “So what – over there you were patient, so be patient here. Or move to another flat...”
¨ Kira Malakh and her mother, both of whom live in Tiberias, have experienced intense anti-Semitic harassment from their Russian-speaking neighbors. When they complained to the police they were told, “Well, they haven’t beaten you. They might be even Nazis, but as long as they don’t touch you [physically], there’s nothing to talk about.” Having failed with the police, the two women approached a social worker in the Ministry of Absorption, and Kira’s mother stated indignantly that in Germany Jews feel better protected from anti-Semitic escapades than in Israel. “So you can go to Germany,” was the calm reply of the worker from the Ministry of Absorption.
¨ Arye Berger, who lives in Jerusalem, related that he had been beaten in downtown Jerusalem, and that the beating was accompanied by shouts of anti-Semitic slurs. He complained to the police, but was told that his case was not significant enough to follow up.
The results of my private investigation have been reported in the media, both in Israel and abroad, mainly in Russian-language publications. Many Hebrew-language publications have refused to publish this information, stating that it might adversely affect aliyah. Nevertheless, in light of the increasing number of reports of anti-Semitic acts, the media must react. Journalists who cover up these issues fail to take into account the feelings of people who suffered from such acts, mainly elderly people who were shocked when they encountered this horrific phenomenon. These people had been promised that they would find a refuge in Israel, where, they were told, anti-Semitism is nonexistent.
Journalists note the anti-Semitic leanings of non-Jewish youth, which they attribute to feelings of “aloofness and bitterness directed against the society that had treated them cruelly” (Israeli society allegedly does not want to call them Jewish; see for example Rali Saar’s article in the February 4, 2000 issue of Ha’aretz, ). Such attitudes are promoted by various interested parties. For example, several “Russian” public figures and members of Knesset have stated that “apparent anti-Semitism is a natural protest against ‘anti-Russian sentiment’ ” (stated in the March 16, 2000 program of the Russian company NTV). Recently, in response to questions from journalists, some Knesset members claimed that they knew nothing about anti-Semitism in Israel and, when confronted with facts, stated that those were isolated incidents (e.g., Chaim Ramon was quoted to that effect in the August 10, 2000 issue of Novosti Nedely Russian weekly).
¨ The July 27, 2000 issue of the Russian-language newspaper Vermia featured a story that had appeared previously in Kol-Bo. It related that visitors to the Haifa beach were shocked to see three Russian-speaking boys sporting swastika tattoos. Police had refused to investigate. Dr. Earnest Nash, who was at the beach at the time, sent a letter describing the incident to Professor Shevach Weiss who, according to newspaper reports, appealed to members of the Knesset to draft a bill prohibiting Nazi propaganda, including tattoos such as those spotted on the Haifa beach .
¨ In Ashkelon a group of youths vandalized twenty-four gravestones in the local cemetery. The head of the Ashkelon police department refused to identify this and other incidents that occurred in the city as anti-Semitic acts.
All my attempts to attract the attention of the Government officials and MKs to the issue of anti-Semitism through this investigation failed to produce any reply. It appears that Israel does not dare to react to the problem on an official level. Indeed, the presence of anti-Semites in the turbid wave of immigration proves that the current practice of recruiting repatriates in the CIS is inadequate. The increase in the number of Jewish Agency representatives in CIS countries is inversely proportionate to the number of Jews in these countries. Also, the absorption industry in Israel has no plans to curtail immigration.
The suffering of those repatriates who have fallen victim to anti-Semitism in Israel has not received proper attention, and nothing is being done to solve the problem. Since the Israeli establishment is not responding to the situation, but rather follows a policy of hushing-up complaints, a group of activists and victims of anti-Semitism have decided to form a center for supporting anti-Semitism victims in Israel. They formulated a proposal and the Amuta (non-profit organization) “Damir-Assistance in Absorption” accepted the project as its principal focus and set up a representative in Jerusalem.
The aims and goals of the Amuta are:
To call public attention to the problem
To create an information center for new immigrants, with local branches to offer legal and psychological aid to victims of anti-Semitism
To carry out explanatory work among Jewish immigrants instructing them how to react to anti-Semitic acts
To demand that the authorities take proper measures to prevent anti-Semitic acts and punish the perpetrators.
The first meeting of Amuta activists and victims of anti-Semitism took place in Tel-Aviv on September 6, 2000 .
From the moment of its creation the Israeli Center has been repeatedly petitioning the authorities to attract their attention to the problem. Early in April 2001 a group of aliya activists headed by (former) prisoner of Zion Yosef Mendelevich sent a petition to the Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. The document was signed by 600 people and contained a demand to change the Law of Return in such a way as to prevent “repatriation” of anti-Semitic elements to Israel. It was reported that the petition had been sent to the Deputy Absorption Minister Yuly Edelstein. As has been said earlier, his predecessor Yuli Tamir related the Center’s appeals to him.
Meanwhile, the phantasmagoria has been going on, and the number of anti-Semitic actions and their victims has been growing steadily.
The (weekly) paper “Russkii izrail’tianin” (“Russian Israeli”) reported (May 8, 2001): “Last Saturday about ten skinhead thugs severely beat soldier Alex Isakov who was bathing in the Lake of Kinneret. Tourists sitting on the beach noticed that something bad was taking place and called the police. Policemen detained three participants of the attack while the rest managed to flee. Isakov was taken to the intensive care unit of a local hospital... The investigators said that the hooligans who had beaten A. Isakov belonged to the so called skinhead gangs that appeared recently in Kiryat Shemonah and neighboring Hazorah. The gangs flaunt Nazi symbolics and banners but all their neo-Nazi activities had been so far restricted to attacking people in the street and beating them...” .
A service room of the Beit-Shemesh cemetery was vandalized 30.08.2001 and fires made at its territory where pieces of equipment were burned. To protest the incident, a group of repatriates living in Beit-Shemesh held a watch and collected signatures demanding to take proper measures against such actions. The Beit-Shemesh Chief of Police reported that there had been a signal about gravestones destroyed at the same cemetery and an arrest made of a group of skinheads suspected of committing both crimes. After the arrest of suspects, two more pogroms have taken place at the cemetery which raises doubts about the efficiency of the police investigation.
The Center activists on January 2, 2001 held another protest action together with Beit-Shemesh residents near the premises of the local municipality . However, acts of vandalism at the Beit-Shemesh cemetery are going on. In May 2002 vandals burned down one service room there. The damage is estimated at 1 million shekels.
Kol Israel Radio reported 22 November 2001 that a swastika had been drawn on a Haifa synagogue. Our Center sent an inquiry to the Haifa Police department. We have not received any reply so far.
There have been numerous reports about import
and dissemination in Israel of Jew-baiting (Jew-hating) printed and other
materials . We have samples in our Center. In December 2001 several
repatriates living in Hadera informed us about open selling of anti-Semitic
and neo-Nazi literature in a local book store that offers books of Russian
Jew-baiting publishers “Vitiaz’”. The information had been confirmed. Open
selling of this kind of literature in any other country is considered by the
official Israel an anti-Jewish and anti-Israeli act.
In Armon Ha-Natziv (Jerusalem) on April 27, 2002 swastikas were drawn on buildings with captions “Heil Hitler” and “Jews dead”. The residents of that neighborhood believe that the action was committed by a group of teenagers from the CIS known for their aggressive behavior .
An anti-fascist meeting took place on May 12, 2002 in the center of Jerusalem under the banner “No to Russian fascism in Israel”. Among participants were new repatriates and veterans of aliya who had suffered from anti-Semitism in Israel or recognize the problem and care about it. The participants of the meeting mentioned the ever increasing number of cases of swastikas and anti-Semitic texts appearing on buildings in Israel, as well as Jewish graves desecrated in Israel, aggressive gatherings of Russian-speaking teenagers decorated with Nazi symbolics, thousands of copies of neo-Nazi and anti-Semitic literature freely imported and disseminated here, the attitude of the Israeli officials to the problem (which they hush up) and many other things .
Israeli officials are vying with one another in condemning anti-Semitic actions abroad. Pompous announcements accompanied the creation of a joint Government and Jewish Agency Internet site containing materials on anti-Semitic actions. The site presents daily new reports concerning Jew-hating acts with details about the country and place, precise date, names and surnames of the perpetrators, etc. An enormous archive of the site contains information about such acts in past. However, if an Internet user wishes to find there anything related to anti-Semitism of immigrants in Israel his or her efforts will bring nothing. Our Center sent to the site address materials of our investigation containing a huge volume of factual material but all we heard was: “Thank you for your interest in our site. We are aware of the fact that anti-Semitism, regrettably, exists in Israel. However, it is our policy to report on anti-Semitic acts taking place abroad only”.
Such hush-up tactics is known to us and it brings painful memories. For decades the Soviet authorities carefully concealed all facts of anti-Semitism in the Soviet Union. When they remembered about the cooperation of local population with the Germans in carrying out the “final solution of the Jewish question” it was only to unmask some new anti-Soviet emigrant organization. Anything that did not fit the narrow framework of the official dogma of “internationalism of the Soviet people” was deleted and banned.
Going back to the site tracing acts of anti-Semitism in Ukraine, Zimbabve and the Bahamas but ignoring similar events in Ashkelon, Kiryat-Yam or Yeruham, it will be interesting to mention the greeting addressed to the Internet users in the site. The greeting is signed by three officials – the President of the State of Israel Moshe Katzav, the Jewish Agency Chairman Salai Meridor, and Michael Malchior (the former Deputy Foreign Minister). The text tells about the sufferings of the Jewish people in the past, an alternative to which was the creation of the State of Israel, about the worry caused by the growing world anti-Semitism, about the need to condemn and eradicate, etc. Those right and necessary words contradict drastically the policy of hushing-up anti-Semitism in Israel. While such situation prevails we will treat them as pitiful affectation.
Those wishing to participate in solving this serious problem and changing the situation can reach us by phone:
054-691955
or by e-mail:
Zalman Gilichensky
