Israel-Russia Tensions Flare Over Netanyahu's Antisemitism Claims

By קרן בצלאל

Translated & summarized from N12 by baba

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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Russia and Vladimir Putin associate Alexander Dugin of running an online campaign to "poison" the American right wing and fuel antisemitism. Russia's Foreign Ministry called the accusations "ridiculous and baseless" and expressed embarrassment. Moscow also recalled a 2018 cyber cooperation proposal to Israel that went unanswered, suggesting it could have prevented current issues.

The story in 5 lines · by baba

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Russia and Alexander Dugin of an online antisemitism campaign.
Russia's Foreign Ministry called Netanyahu's accusations "ridiculous and baseless."
Netanyahu stated the campaign aims to "poison" the American right wing.
Russia expressed embarrassment over the public accusations from Israel.
Moscow cited an unanswered 2018 cyber cooperation proposal to Israel.

Israel-Russia Tensions Flare Over Netanyahu's Antisemitism Claims — Editorial illustration generated by baba News, not a photograph of the event.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly accused Moscow and a close associate of President Vladimir Putin, Alexander Dugin, of orchestrating an online campaign to "poison" the American right wing. The Israeli Prime Minister stated that these Russian-backed efforts are a significant contributor to the rise in antisemitism in the West. Netanyahu emphasized the need for government agencies to utilize advanced technological tools, particularly artificial intelligence, to combat such online campaigns.

Russia's Foreign Ministry vehemently rejected Netanyahu's accusations, calling them "ridiculous and baseless" and expressing embarrassment over the public statements. In an official response, the ministry stated that Russia has a rich shared history with Israel and finds the claims of hostile campaigns against Israel particularly absurd given their bilateral relations. They also asserted that antisemitism is virtually non-existent in Russia due to government policies promoting peace and interfaith harmony.

The Russian Foreign Ministry recalled that in 2018, Russia proposed a bilateral agreement with Israel for cooperation in information security and cyber defense. They claimed that Jerusalem did not respond to this offer, and that such cooperation could have prevented the current issues from arising. The ministry suggested that a lack of response from Israel led to the creation of problems "out of nowhere."