Chief Rabbi: Most Russian Jews Backing Putin
Most of Russia’s Jews will likely vote for Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in Sunday’s presidential elections, according to that country’s chief rabbi.
“Maybe if there were a more serious choice of candidates they would vote for someone else. But I haven’t yet met a single Jew who is voting for [Russian tycoon Mikhail] Prokhorov, for example,” said Chabad Rabbi Berel Lazar, in an interview with Haaretz.
He added, “I think the fact that a new, young leader has not yet stepped forward in Russia is a problem. All these people — [Gennady] Zyuganov, [Vladimir] Zhirinovsky [presidential candidates for the Russian Communist and Liberal Democratic parties, respectively] — we’ve already heard their sermons before. It’s the same old people.”
Lazar has the delicate task of threading the needle between the government in Moscow and the Jewish community — many of whose members have been involved in protests against Putin in the past months.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
