The media coverage of the Russia-Ukraine war, and the battle for world opinion, along with the ratings during the events of the fighting, have yet to bring up another war happening there – the war against anti-Semitism. Anti-Semitism has reared its head, as well as trivialization of the Holocaust, which has become a daily occurrence in the post-Soviet space.

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Russian and Ukrainian media outlets are flooded with anti-Semitic comments that pervert historical facts. These comments are heard on both sides of the border, but share a message – that the Jews are to blame.

Officials such as Mikhailo Kolavchuk, a former member of the Kyiv city council, who disseminates anti-Semitic conspiracy theories that preaches that Jews are responsible for setting out mines on the Zatoka beach, which killed two people last week.

Kovalchuk continues to stress that "the Zionists" are responsible for the situation in Ukraine, for the casualties, and are attempting to establish a "new world order" – namely, occupying Ukraine and murdering all the Ukrainians. Kovalchuk also explains that "pure Jewish stupidity… the stinking Zionists went crazy and ruined all our beaches."

The British news site Jewish News has previously brought international attention to the issue and has called on lawmakers to respond to Kovalchuk's remarks, but there has been no official response.

In Russia, where recent World Zionist Organization reports pointed to a drop in anti-Semitism in recent years, there has been a spike in the number of anti-Semitic incidents and comments. Numbers from the WZO's Department for Combating Anti-Semitism and Enhancing Resilience, reported here for the first time, show that the number of these incidents and comments have doubled in the past four months in comparison to the four months that preceded them, mainly in the media. For example, the wife of a famous Jewish singer, who was interviewed on a popular TV program, discussed how she lived with "a little Jew, whose greed always made him try to save money and avoid spending."

Another example, just as scandalous: Russia's national broadcaster compared the president of Ukraine and his wife to Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun, under the branding, "A series of photos comparing Zelenskyy and Hitler," along with a military analyst calling for "all the Ukrainians to be imprisoned in a concentration camp."

Human history has taught us that war and economic crises serve as fertile ground for the revival of anti-Semitism.

The Russo-Ukraine war has created a global economic crisis, led to growing incitement through the use of radical ideologies that justify violence against one's enemies – primarily the Jews – who both sides claim are responsible for all the ills of the world.

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Last week, following a several-day journey, a 59-year old Jewish Ukrainian man reached the Ukrainian-Hungarian border. He was carrying a Ukrainian passport, a document that said he was discharged from the military five years ago, and a provisional Israeli passport that he had received a few hours earlier. The man was supposed to make aliyah to Israel, as part of a process that began several months prior, unrelated to the war that erupted.

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But officers at the border prevented him from crossing because of a new law in Ukraine that prevents able-bodied men from leaving. In addition, he was thrown insults for being a Jew and threatened he would be conscripted and have his vehicle stolen. In the end, the man was let go, only to return to Ukraine.

This is one of many true stories that depict, unfortunately, what many of us feared – a wave of antisemitism rearing its head in Ukraine. In the weeks leading up to the incursion, Israel called on all its citizens staying in Ukraine to return, but an estimated 6,000 Israelis are still thought to be in the besieged country, including hundreds of thousands of Jews. While initially, it made sense to encourage everyone to return, or make aliyah. However, as soon as the fighting began, we should have stopped urging immigration to Israel, or at least from doing so openly, for the immediate result of aliyah encouragement is a rise in antisemitism.

According to the World Zionist Organization, no significant increase in physical antisemitic incidents has yet been reported in Ukraine and neighboring countries (such as vandalism of Jewish symbols and attacks on Jews), given that locals are preoccupied with trying to survive.

However, it is precisely on social media that one can detect an alarming trend on both sides of the border. On VK, a popular social network among Russian speakers, users blamed the war on the Jews and Israel. The fact that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is Jewish only fuels the spread of such conspiracies. In addition, the classic antisemitic rhetoric of Jews controlling the global economy also began circulating online.

Usually, a wave of antisemitism is followed by a wave of aliyah. We saw this in 2019 when many Jews from France immigrated to Israel after experiencing a year of Jew-hatred in 2018. This time, things are different. We must understand that from Ukraine's perspective, anyone leaving the country will be viewed as having dual loyalties, which will increase Jew-hatred.

Israel's declared support only for Ukraine's Jews will emphasize the lack of loyalty to Ukraine at a time of war, and disloyalty to their country of residence, especially when it comes to young men applying for aliyah, a matter that can be perceived as a desire to evade fighting alongside Ukraine's soldiers.

True, our goal is to help each and every Jew, but if we distinguish between one kind of blood to another now, it might lead to the shedding of Jewish blood in the future. The Israeli government is right to send humanitarian aid to all those in refugee camps and deal with requests without discrimination.

Israel must minimize encouraging aliyah without giving it up, and continue work on two fronts – keep helping every Israeli and Jew that reaches out, and continue with humanitarian aid to all those who flee the war zone. To proudly present Israel as helping all those left without a roof over their heads, and emphasize this approach in the media.

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In these fraught and stressful times for all Israelis, criticism of the State of Israel and its government can be found across the globe. As a democracy that respects freedom of expression, there is much social and political dissent in Israel. But how tolerant can one be?

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Indeed, many of the critics come from within Israel. However, when condemnation of Israeli actions comes from outside the Israeli discourse, a thin line separates legitimate critique from an onslaught of antisemitic rhetoric often but not always masked as anti-Zionism.

Objecting to Israeli policy in Gaza and the disputed West Bank is not antisemitism, but denying Israel's right to exist and defend her citizens – is. Proclaiming support for an independent Palestinian state is not antisemitism. Calling for the destruction of Israel and the death of Jews – is.

Equating the defensive counteractions of a sovereign military with indiscriminate attacks by a terrorist organization – toes the line at best. Hamas leadership's calls for the beheading Jews have no legitimacy in warfare and meets every criterion of antisemitism.

Among the reasons Hamas terrorists may be emboldened to attack Israel with such brazen volume is that they view the politically fragmented population as vulnerable.

However, this is an incorrect assessment. In the span of an hour last night, as hundreds of rockets rained on Israeli civilians who were sent scurrying for bomb shelters, Israel was unified against a common threat.

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Hamas terrorism targets all of Israel: religious and secular, Jewish and Arab, all citizens alike. In fact, among the tragic fatalities of Hamas' overnight campaign were an Arab Israeli man – a Muslim – and his 16-year-old daughter. Israel mourns these victims and will remain resolute in its own defense until the peace and security to which every Israeli citizen is entitled are restored.

Raheli Baratz-Rix is head of the Department for Combatting Antisemitism and Enhancing Resilience
at the World Zionist Organization.

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