Putin Accuses 'Ethnic Jews' of Tearing Russian Orthodox Church Apart

Chris Menahan
InformationLiberation
Dec. 20, 2024

Russian President Vladimir Putin said during a marathon press conference on Thursday that "godless people" who happen to be "ethnic Jews" are tearing apart the Russian Orthodox Church.

Putin accuses "non-believing Jews" of oppressing the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, reviving Soviet-era tropes like "rootless cosmopolitans."

This echoes the Stalinist antisemitic rhetoric of the "Doctors’ Plot" (1948-53). History teaches us: hate must be challenged. We call on… pic.twitter.com/hJ7LOPpwiV
— Chief Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt (@ChiefRabbiPG) December 19, 2024

From The Jewish Telegraphic Agency, "Vladimir Putin accuses 'ethnic Jews' of tearing apart the Russian Orthodox Church":

Vladimir Putin accused Jews of attacking the Russian Orthodox Church and suggested that they lacked family and "roots," the latest antisemitic statement from the Russian leader since his 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Putin made the allegation during his lengthy annual press conference ahead of the New Year, which lasted four hours on Thursday. In the middle of of the event, Putin addressed punitive actions against the Russian Orthodox Church elsewhere in Europe. The church is considered to be closely tied to Putin's regime, and its leaders have been expelled from countries such as Bulgaria and Estonia.

Putin said the church was "being tortured" — and blamed Jews.

"They're tearing the church apart but they're not even atheists," Putin said. "These are people without any beliefs, godless people, they're ethnic Jews, but has anyone seen them in a synagogue? I don't think so."

After adding that the alleged opponents of the church were also neither Orthodox Christian nor Muslim, he added, "These are people without kin or memory, with no roots. They don't cherish what we cherish and the majority of the Ukrainian people cherish as well."

"They won't go to Church, they will go to the beach," Putin added.

The Russian leader attracted similar controversy in the past for stating that "up to 80-85% of the first Soviet government members were Jews."

‘80 - 85% of the 1st Bolshevik Government Members Were Jews.’

- Vladimir Putin
pic.twitter.com/YOFjxp3mq8 https://t.co/uGODoMSH2B
— The Impartial Truth (@IImpartialTruth) August 15, 2024

Russia has become noticeably more hostile towards Israel in just the past few months.

On Thursday, Putin also said that Israel was the "main beneficiary" of the overthrow of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

"Putin said Russia hoped that Israel would at some point leave Syrian territory, 'but now it is bringing in additional troops there. I think there are already several thousand there. And I have the impression that not only are they not going to leave, but they are going to reinforce there,'" the Times of Israel reported.

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