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 zeveloff@forward.com

Naomi Zeveloff is the former Middle East correspondent of the Forward, primarily covering Israel and the Palestinian Territories.

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