The Jewish Week - 02.10.2006

The Jewish Week

Warming Trend To Putin

Russian Jewish leaders here developing stronger ties to Moscow despite synagogue attack, Iran stance. 

By Walter Ruby

At a time of increasing strain in relations between the United States and Russia, the Russian Jewish community in New York appears to be moving closer to the government of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Despite an attack by a knife-wielding fanatic in a Moscow synagogue last month that wounded eight worshipers, as well as ongoing Russian resistance to United Nations sanctions on Iran for its nuclear program and Putin’s continued crackdown on democracy and press freedom in his own country, leaders of the Russian Jewish community here have been developing a growing network of contacts with Moscow and with Russian diplomats in New York.

The trend is striking, observers say, not only considering the growing disrepute of the Putin government in both conservative and liberal U.S. political circles, but also because the Russian Jewish community — estimated to number about 350,000 in Greater New York and 750,000 across the U.S. — is largely composed of those who left the Soviet Union to escape official anti-Semitism and live more freely.

Yet in recent interviews, key Russian Jewish leaders here contended that whatever his faults, Putin has maintained a basically positive attitude toward Jewish life in Russia and, despite the sale of advanced nuclear technology to Iran, has nurtured closer ties to Israel.

Some leaders believe that by maintaining ties with the Putin government, they may be able to influence Russia to strengthen ties with Washington and Jerusalem, and to apply greater pressure on Tehran not to move forward with its nuclear program.

The thaw in attitudes toward Russia and Putin have taken place in the context of the emergence of a world community of about 2 million Russian-speaking Jews in the United States, Israel, Germany, Canada, Australia and other countries, many of whom watch cable television broadcasts from Moscow and travel frequently back to the former Soviet Union for business and pleasure.

There is also an increasing market for contemporary Russian culture in the emigre community here, with prestigious exhibitions like last autumn’s “Russia!” at the Guggenheim Museum. In addition, Russian Jewish impresarios like Marina Kovalyov of the Russian American Arts Foundation, in cooperation with the Russian consulate in New York, have arranged performances for top stars of the Russian ballet, opera, and theatrical and pop music scenes in venues such as Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center.

After the attack at the Chabad Bronnaya Synagogue in Moscow by an unemployed Moscow resident, one top Russian-speaking community leader, Alec Brook-Krasny, director of the umbrella group the Council of Jewish Émigré Community Organizations, said he consulted with other community leaders and convinced them not to demonstrate in front of the Russian Mission to the U.N. or Consulate General in response.

Brook-Krasny contended that the Putin government deserved praise for responding forcefully. He noted that Russian Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev arrived at the synagogue within an hour of the incident to denounce the attack and the Russian government immediately stepped up security procedures at synagogues across the country.

Moscow prosecutors have charged Aleksandr Koptsev with attempted murder, causing premeditated bodily harm, and inciting racial or religious discord.

“The point of view I expressed was that the Russian government responded quickly and effectively to the attack, and that we should encourage them in that kind of response rather than criticize them,” Brook-Krasny said.

“If we were to hold a demonstration, that would create the impression that we were demonstrating against the Russian government, which could have bad consequences. I believe that the better our relationship is with the Russian government, the better that is for Russian Jews.”

Not everyone agrees. Yuri Orlov, a physicist and human rights activist who served nine years in a labor camp in Siberia for “anti-Soviet agitation and propaganda” before being allowed to move to the U.S. in 1986, said the decision not to demonstrate “was wrong.”

“Whenever something like this happens, the [Russian-Jewish] community must protest,” Orlov said from his home in Ithaca, N.Y.

“Yes, the Russian government arrested the culprit and denounced the attack, but the reality is that the general xenophobic atmosphere that exists in Russia today creates a good environment for such attacks. High officials in the Putin government have done everything to stoke the xenophobic mood,” he said.

Leonard Petlakh, associate executive director of the Hebrew Free Loan Society and a vice president of Russian American Jews for Israel, agreed with the decision not to protest.

“Let’s not forget that the attack on the synagogue was not a government-sponsored event, but that Putin’s government strongly condemned it and is now calling for stricter laws to combat neo-nationalism,” Petlakh said.

Sam Kliger, director of the Research Institute for New Americans, which monitors attitudes in the Russian-speaking community here, said that “much of the community here believes that Putin, unlike many past Russian leaders, is not anti-Semitic, and they respect him for that.”

“Many people are not happy with his recent limitations on democracy,” Kliger said, “but nevertheless point out that today’s Russia is far more democratic than in Soviet times.”

The favorable attitudes toward Russia here may be due in part to a recent campaign by the Putin government. Beginning in 2001, Putin began to speak of the importance of outreach to “compatriots” abroad, and in October a new department of the Russian Foreign Ministry was formed to deal exclusively with outreach to Russian speakers abroad.

The Russian consul general in New York, Sergei Garmonin, made clear during an interview that he places a high priority on improving relations with Russian-speaking Jews here.

Noting that the Russian consulate maintains contacts with major Russian-Jewish organizations here, Garmonin said, “We hope the community has noticed significant changes in recent years on the part of the Russian government in reaching out to compatriots and communities regardless of nationality.”

For his part, Brook-Krasny has embarked on a partnership with Vadim Perfiliev, a one-time deputy spokesman for the Soviet Foreign Ministry who later served in a variety of high-level positions at the U.N., to improve communication between Moscow and the Russian-speaking community here.

“It is true that our effort may serve to clear Putin’s image to some extent,” Brook-Krasny acknowledged, but argued that the positive impact of that effort will outweigh the negative.

“Not everyone is happy with recent developments in the Russian Federation, but everyone can agree that Russia is moving toward becoming part of the global family of democratic countries,” he said. “We in the Russian-speaking community in America should help strengthen the triangular relationship between Russia, the United States and Israel. Don’t forget that Russia has a relationship with Iran, so the better is Russia’s relationship with Israel, the more positive role Russia can play in helping to resolve the dangerous nuclear situation with Iran.”

Yet Victor Topaler, a talk-show host and commentator for the New York-based Russian Television International, argued that Brook-Krasny is “absolutely wrong” in believing that efforts like his can bring Russia closer to Israel.

“It is ridiculous to pretend that Russia is a friend of Israel when it is providing nuclear material to Iran and weapons systems to Syria,” said Topaler, who has frequently angered the Russian government with commentaries criticizing the Putin regime.

As for the Putin government’s outreach to the Russian Jewish community here, Topaler said, “This is an effort to soothe Russian-speakers here so they will overlook everything Putin is doing to take Russia back into a KGB-style dictatorship.”