Jewish Oligarch Vadim Rabinovich Announces Run for Ukraine President

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By Paul Berger March 25, 2014

The brash Ukrainian Jewish oligarch Vadim Rabinovich has announced that he will run for the presidency of Ukraine, according to the Interfax news agency.

Rabinovich, president of the All-Ukrainian Jewish Congress and founder of the European Jewish Parliament, said that he was running to “destroy the myth about anti-Semitism in Ukraine.” In recent months, Russian officials, including President Vladimir Putin, have accused groups that overthrew Ukraine’s former president, Viktor Yanukovich, of being fascists and anti-Semites.

There have been several anti-Semitic attacks on Jews and on synagogues across Ukraine since the start of this year.

Rabinovich recently put out a statement denying that anti-Semitism was on the rise in Ukraine.

“Attempting to fan the flames around this issue is a provocation and is not conducive to a peaceful life of the Jewish community in Ukraine,” he said..

The elections will be held on May 25.

Paul Berger was a staff writer at the Forward from 2011-2016, covering crime and healthcare issues, such as sex abuse, circumcision, and fraud. He is a fluent Russian speaker and has reported from Russia and Ukraine. He also likes digging into historical mysteries.

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