Natan Sharansky Blames American Anti-Semitism On Right — And Left
Chairman of the Jewish Agency for Israel Natan Sharansky Image by Getty Images
By Naomi Zeveloff March 1, 2017
Natan Sharanksy, the chairman of the Jewish Agency for Israel, condemned anti-Semitism perpetrated by the right in the United States, linking it to anti-Zionism in the left.
“If ever there was a line between the anti-Semitism of the far right and the anti-Israelism of the radical left, the demonization of Jews and the demonization of their state, it no longer exists,” he said in a statement. “These two ugly phenomena feed on one another and both run counter to the foundations of democratic societies in Europe and America.”
Commenting after bomb threats at Jewish Community Centers across the country and vandalism at two Jewish cemeteries in St. Louis and Philadelphia left American Jews shaken, Sharansky expressed confidence in the U.S. government to take care of the problem.
“I trust that U.S. authorities will act resolutely to find those responsible, bring them to justice, and prevent such incidents from reoccurring,” he said.
The Jewish Agency for Israel, the largest Jewish not-for-profit in the world, facilitates Jewish immigration to Israel as well as other activities. Sharansky is a Soviet-born refusenik who was held in Russian prison for nine years before he was allowed to immigrate to Israel.
Contact Naomi Zeveloff at [email protected]
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.
