Pressure To Leave: Dagestan?s Jews have faced pressure to leave amid mounting violence. Image by Diana Markosian

By Rukhl Schaechter July 25, 2013

The Foverts has learned that Rabbi Ovadia Isakov, the Chabad emissary who was critically wounded in the southern Russian Republic of Dagestan, was brought Thursday to Israel for medical treatment, according to the chief rabbi of the Russian military, Aharon Gurevich.

A group of Israeli doctors arrived in Dagestan on a specialized medical airplane Thursday evening, and accompanied Isakov, who is an Israeli citizen, back to Israel. The transport was organized by the chief rabbi of Russia, Berel Lazar, who is currently in New York.

According to police reports, the shooter’s bullet punctured Isakov’s right lung and liver as he was exiting his car. The identity of the shooter, who immediately fled the scene, is unknown. Police suspect that the shooting was motivated by anti-Semitism, but are investigating other possibilities.

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Russian authorities have contacted Isakov wife and children, and will release further details of the investigation as they become known. Isakov has been serving as an emissary in the city or Derbent.

Ramazan Abdulatipov, the acting president of Dagestan, initially blamed the attack on “the extremists and terrorists who don’t want everyone to be able to live a happy, normal life. Only the ignorant, the enemies of Dagestan, could do such a thing. Dagestan is greatly angered by them.”

This article originally appeared in the Forverts.

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