Vladimir Putin and His Jews https://mosaicmagazine.com/picks/politics-current-affairs/2015/11/vladimir-putin-and-his-jews/

November 11, 2015 | Konstanty Gebert
About the author: Konstanty Gebert, a columnist and international reporter with the leading Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza, is the author of eleven books and co-founder of Midrasz, a Polish Jewish intellectual monthly.

There is little reason, writes Konstanty Gebert, to believe that Vladimir Putin is an anti-Semite. He has drawn close to a segment of Russia’s organized Jewish leadership, and has also painted himself as a defender of Jews against the Ukrainian government, which he frequently alleges is “fascist.” Still, writes Gebert, there is reason to worry that Putin could unleash anti-Semitism for his own purposes—or prove unable to thwart it:

The Russian leader’s regime seems stable today and has impressed both the Russian public and international observers with its stunning political turnabouts, from the cowing of the oligarchs to the wars in Ukraine and now Syria. Yet there could be new, unexpected turns. The Russian economy is feeling the double impact of the sanctions imposed in response to the Ukraine war and the fall of oil prices, and incomes are down. The soldiers returning in caskets from Ukraine (even though, officially, they were never there in the first place) and now from Syria do not improve matters. This is a country intimidated, but not silenced—and with still-fresh memories of the massive anti-regime protests of just a few years ago. If Putin cannot give the people prosperity and victory, or at least one of the two, he still may have to give them something.

In Russia, traditionally, leaders would, under such circumstances, give the people the Jews. And if not, the people would themselves hold the Jews responsible and accuse the regime of covering for them. Putin might truly not be anti-Semitic. But Russia is not a dictatorship the way it was in Soviet times. The will of one man does not decide all. Nor would his will be sufficient to stem a popular revolt.

Read more on Moment: http://www.momentmag.com/putins-jews/