Unchecked Russian Immigration to Israel Hurts Russian Jews the Most

The Jerusalem Post reports: "The Great Synagogue in Petah Tikva was broken into and desecrated on Thursday morning. The perpetrators drew swastikas on the walls, on the ark and on Torah Scrolls. They also wrote 'Hitler' on the doors of the synagogue and flung the contents of the ark onto the floor. They covered every Jewish symbol with spray paint and signed the name Rammstein - the name of a German heavy metal band who some associate with neo-Nazism. They also drew the symbol of a known devil worship cult on the synagogue's walls.
[...]
In July 2005, the government opposed a proposal by Shinui MKs to strip individuals engaged in neo-Nazi activities of their citizenship. The bill was submitted following reports of non-Jewish Russian-speaking immigrants who have become involved in neo-Nazi activity in Israel. Earlier that year a Russian-born IDF soldier with a swastika tattoo on his left arm, who admitted to maintaining contacts with neo-Nazi groups abroad, was arrested in Ariel. His mother was also detained for questioning after she spoke of her hatred for Israel and expressed support for neo-Nazis."

The rate of anti-Semitic vandalism and assault has increased dramatically in Israel over the last ten years, following the increasing rate of Russian immigration. The Law of Return, which remains unchanged since 1970, states:

1. Every Jew has the right to come to this country as an oleh**.

2. (a) Aliyah** shall be by oleh's visa.

(b) An oleh's visa shall be granted to every Jew who has expressed his
desire to settle in Israel, unless the Minister of Immigration is
satisfied that the applicant

(1) is engaged in an activity directed against the Jewish people; or

(2) is likely to endanger public health or the security of the State.

"(3) is a person with a criminal past, likely to endanger public
welfare.".

The Law of Return has been under much criticism lately since this relatively lenient immigration policy has afforded many non-Jews and Jew haters, particularly Russian neo-Nazis, to enter Israel and receieve citizenship. The Russian website Darkon. ru promised to deliver Jewish identity cards and Israeli passports in a mere 10 days for 10,000 euro. The site assures non-Jews who wish to enter Israel that, "The Russian law from the year 1993 enables one to declare by means of a court of law and with no proof at all of a change in one's nationality, among others, to a Jewish nationality, which entitles the Russian to the Law of Return and therefore entitles him as well to make "aliyah" to Israel." In addition, anyone with a non-Jewish grandparent may apply for automatic citizenship.

Now, why would a neo-Nazi or anti-Semite choose to immigrate to a Jewish country where they'd be immersed in the people and culture they hate? The case cited in the JPost article, of the IDF soldier who was arrested for association to neo-Nazi organizations. He was a kid with a swastika tatoo and a room full of nazi literature, but his mother was a full fledged neo-nazi supporter who, when challenged, said she immigrated for the absorption package.

I found an old record of anti-Semitic incidents (pre 2000) perpetrated by Russian immigrants on the website Pogrom.org.il.

• 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 .
• 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) .
• 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.
  
• 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” .

More recent incidents include the neo-nazi soldier and the repeated synagogue vandalism throughout heavily Russian immigrant populated cities (Beit Shemesh, Be'er Sheva, Petach Tikva). In addition to vandalism, there are many reports of beatings and intimidation using nazi slogans, etc...

What isn't clear in these reports and so rarely discussed in the criticism of the Law of Return is that most often the victims of anti-Semitism are Jewish Russian immigrants. While other Israeli's are highly offended by new comers to their land who hate them and want to destroy then, and while holocaust survivors are of course horrified by the use of the nazi imagery in the Jewish and supposedly safe state,the actual targets of thes incidents are most often Russian Jews.

The reason Russian jews immigrated to Israel in such outstanding numbers (somewhere over a million) is because they were the victims of terrible anti-Semitism and persecution in Russia for decades. At the first opportunity to leave, they did, and flocked in huge numbers to Israel's welcoming shores. However, when post-communist Russia's economy declined and many non-Jews (or people only distantly related to Jews) looked for a way to escape the poverty, they too immigrated to Israel, considering it not an aliyah but an immigration like any other, but with a hefty severence package.

Any Russian immigrant to Israel will tell you that settling, absorbing, finding employment are all very difficult. Besides for the standard prejiduce against immigrants, Israelis are especially wary of Russians, because many of them hold high level degrees in engineering or medicine, and they pose a real threat to an already tight Israeli job market. The Russian community has also become a formidable player in politics, with representatives in the Knesset (Sheransky, Lieberman...)--they by and large fall on the right wing spectrum, be it likud or Yisrael Beiteinu, and support a platform of perserving an all Jewish state, in other words, Arab free. Again, Israeli's resent that such a new and foreign population could have such clout in an issue that they have only recently become involved in.

Recently, some emigrees have reportely returnd to Russia, citing less prejudice and better economic opportunity in their homeland. I don't know whether the emigrees were Jews or not, but in most cases, despite whatever hardship they face in Israel, Jews are afraid of returning to Russia because of a high rise of recent anti-SemiNazis there.

The neo-nazis in Israel don't target Israeli neighborhoods or citizens, for the most part, because their actions would not be tolerated for a second. Instead, they target fellow Russian immigrants who are (1) used to being harrassed for their Jewishness, and (2) would take longer in reporting the incident because of fear of backlash against the entire Russian community. As such, the Russian Jews who escaped from Russia because of hatred and anti-semitism against them are facing some of the same home-grown hate in the Jewish land of Israel. The tragedy is that because of forgeries, and intermarriage, it's virtually impossible to seperate the Jews from the non-Jews in order to weed out those that pose a threat to Israeli society; so the general Israeli public condemns the entire Russian immigrant community and for these acts, when in fact, these are the very people who suffer from anti-Semitism in Israel the most.

Update: Video on Ynet- via westbankmama.