Zionists and Anti-Semites in Ukraine: A Strange Union

Dmitry Minin

Dmitry MININ

Ex: http://www.strategic-culture.org

It is surprising how the national socialist Banderovite ideology which has prevailed in Kiev, filled as it is with anti-Semitism, has enabled the complete triumph of the most odious of figures from the point of view of this ideology, the oligarchs, and activists of the world Jewish movement like Igor Kolomoisky, at that. This is a striking example of how seemingly mutually exclusive political forces can form unprincipled and unnatural unions for the sake of achieving short-term goals without thinking about the far-reaching consequences… 

Such a symbiosis, being highly contradictory, cannot last long. Both partners are playing a dangerous game over who will outfox whom. The former risk confirming the old adage that revolutions devour their own children; the latter could run up against the fury of the extremists and bring pogroms down upon themselves. There are already signs of both in Ukraine: the shooting death of Sashko Bilyi, on the one hand; and the appearance of Wolfsangels, the stylized swastikas of the Right Sector, on synagogues throughout Ukraine, for example, recently in Odessa.

The ultranationalist slogan «Bandera will come and put things in order!» today sounds like «Kolomoisky will come and put things in order!» Kolomoisky, the third richest person in Ukraine, declares everywhere that he is an Israeli citizen and the president of the Jewish Congress of Europe, but that did not prevent him from being appointed the head of the Dnepropetrovsk region. Under his leadership and on his money, this region has become a hotbed of newly minted polizeis from the Right Sector, who are being sent out throughout the country. And he previously, along with Pyotr Poroshenko, who has a similar world view, was one of the main sponsors of the Maidan. Some of the disillusioned more radical participants of those events, such as the members of the White Hammer group, have already rebelled against the fact that they were blatantly used for the sake of what they call the «Zionist revolution» in Ukraine. They point out the ancestry of Prime Minister A. Yatsenyuk, Vice Premier V. Groisman and many other figures in the new regime. White Hammer members also see Jewish roots in their former associates, Freedom Party chairman O. Tyahnybok and Right Sector leader D. Yarosha. 

However, how did it happen that Kolomoisky, who is not embarrassed to wear a «Jewish Banderovite» T-shirt (apparently he invented this uniform himself), has forgotten the role played during the war by members of the Ukrainian nationalist movement oriented toward Stepan Bandera in the extermination of the Jewish population of Ukraine? And why does he refuse to see the ideological continuity between them and their modern-day followers from the Freedom Party and the Right Sector? Why does he hate Russia so passionately? Natan Khazin, one of his henchmen who commanded a company on the Maidan, stated that he did not see any evidence of anti-Semitism there, and that it is «better to be a Jewish Banderovite than a Jewish Muscovite». Can it really be that the hunger for money and power, as well as the unwillingness to let anyone else in on the private preserve into which they have turned all of Ukraine, can blind them to such a degree? Despite the obvious facts, the Association of Jewish Organizations and Communities of Ukraine continues to insist that nothing threatens Jews in the country. However, once you understand that the head rabbi of Kiev and Ukraine, Yaakov Bleich, came there from New York, it becomes clear where this illusion is being created. It is extremely awkward for Washington to admit that as a result of its actions the situation for Jews in Ukraine could get worse.

In Israel, for example, many are bewildered by the flirtation of the current leaders of Ukraine's Jewish community with open anti-Semites. «Jews who engage in the politics of an unstable country in which successive governments condoned or ignored nationalist anti-Semitic groups are playing with fire,» writes one Internet resource. On February 27, Knesset member Rina Frenkel (Yesh Atid) petitioned the head of the government to create a state program for the repatriation of Ukrainian Jews. In her opinion, the Jewish community in Ukraine «is in clear and present danger». Knesset member Moshe Feiglin (Likud) also emphasized at Knesset hearings that the situation in Ukraine should be «an alarm signal on the strategic level» for the Israeli government. According to Feiglin, political processes in Eastern Europe and the deep economic crisis in the West could create pressure on all the 6 million Jews in the Diaspora. Referring to the «most cautious» estimates of demographic analysts, the parliament member stated that in the next 10 years at least 1.5 million Jews could repatriate. He urged the government to begin timely preparations for such a development. Head Chabad rabbi Reuven Azman advised his followers to leave Ukraine as soon as possible.

Israeli public opinion assesses Russia's actions in the Ukrainian crisis differently than Kolomoisky does as well. For example, according to one survey, only 35% believe that the Crimea is the territory of Ukraine and should remain part of that state. 60% agree with the holding of the referendum and the reunification with Russia. At the UN General Assembly, despite pressure from the Obama administration, Israel did not vote for the resolution condemning Moscow for the annexation of the Crimea. And with regard to the position of Ukraine's Jewish oligarchs, well-known Israeli publicist Avigdor Eskin said metaphorically: «What can you say? We have our Vlasovites too».

One prominent activist for the freedom of Soviet Jews to emigrate, Isi Leibler, does not believe in the change of heart of the modern-day Banderovites who all declare as if on cue that they are not anti-Semites either. He writes in the Jerusalem Post: «These are genuine neo-Nazis who employ swastika symbols and are openly anti-Semitic...Oleh Tyahnybok, leader of Svoboda, the largest right-wing extremist nationalist faction, which holds 37 seats in the government, has called for the liberation of Ukraine from the 'Muscovite-Jewish Mafia'«. Until 2004 his movement was called the Social National Party of Ukraine (a reference to National Socialism). Tyahnybok is most clearly characterized by his statement: «I personally have nothing against ordinary Jews; I even have Jewish friends. I am against the Jewish oligarchs who control Ukraine and the Jewish Bolsheviks».

But just how durable is the anti-Semite-Zionist political alliance which has taken shape in Ukraine? It is hard to believe that each side is not waiting for a propitious moment to get rid of the other. It seems that the «unique crook» I. Kolomoisky (to use Putin's expression) is as of yet a step ahead. The Right Sector is no longer demanding the continuation of the «anti-oligarch revolution» and has dispersed throughout the country as punitive «special units» to suppress the people's protests in the Southeast. However, events are developing such that very soon the dark Banderovite forces will most likely declare that they have been «betrayed», and then they will make their erstwhile ally one of those to blame for their inevitable defeat. But Igor Kolomoisky probably has some kind of plan for that case as well.