Israel’s Ambassador: «Echo of anti-Semitism heard in Lukashenka’s words»

“Belarusian president’s statements addressing to Jews provoke surprise and regret” – Israel’s Ambassador to Belarus Zeev Ben Arie commented in the interview to BelaPAN Lukashenka’s words said at his meeting with the Russian regional mass media representatives.

At the press conference president declared, in particular: “If you visited Babruisk, you saw in what condition the town was. It was frightfully to enter! It was a pigsty! It was largely a Jewish town. Well, you know what the attitude the Jews have towards the place they live. Look in Israel’. At the same time he noted that the living abroad Jews had invest 60 millions in the economy of Belarus” and invited them to come back to the country.

According to the Israeli diplomat, “the echo of, as I hoped, the long ago buried by the enlightened mankind myth of untidy, dirty, stinking Jews, the anti-Semitic myth” is heard in Belarusian president’s statements”. “The impression appears that Babruisk was an independent Jewish barony with its independent budget, not one of the Belarusian towns where the responsibility for improvement and resources for it were in the hands of the local authorities. Thanks God, they find the facilities for urban development now”, - the ambassador said.

At the same time he wished “the Belarusian towns would reach the level of municipal and social services of Israel, with its health service, the aged and handicapped people care, drug control, alcoholism and domestic violence, kindergartens and schools equipment, though the president detected somewhere uncutted grass”.

Touching upon a question of Jews coming back into the country, Z. Ben Arie noted that “It is, surely, an affair of Belarus whom to admit and whom not”. From my side, as an Israel ambassador I want to say that the State Israel being the national house for Jews, admitted, admits and will admit all the Jews who want to come to us, whether they have money or not”, - the diplomat stressed.

The Israeli ambassador also expressed his hope that “there will be more attention to anti-Semitism demonstrations in Belarus (for example, to the recent violation of the Jewish graves in Babruisk and inscriptions “beat Yids” on the house where Slutsk Jewish community administration is situated), in country where almost all the members of one of the biggest Jewish community in Europe were killed by Nazis and their supporters, and Belarus will abstain from any statements that can stimulate such grievous events”.