Lukashenka Caught On Anti-Semitism

And it is easy to prove.

Over the 30 years in power, Aliaksandr Lukashenka has spoken out about Jews and Israel many times. Some of his speeches have led to diplomatic scandals and reactions from the Israeli Foreign Ministry.

a target="_blank" href=https://euroradio.fm/ru/evreev-pod-kontrol-lukashenko-antisemit-i-eto-legko-dokazat>Euroradio recalls Lukashenka's most anti-Semitic statements.

“Jewish Babruisk is a pig shed”

On October 12, 2007, at a press conference for Russian media, Lukashenka outraged Israelis with his statement about Jews. He compared the “mostly Jewish city of Babruisk” to a “pig shed”.

“If you have been to Babruisk, have you seen the state of the city? It was scary to enter, it was a real pig shed. It was a mostly Jewish city, you know how Jews feel about the place where they live. Look at Israel, I’ve been there… I don’t want to offend them in any way, but they don’t really care about the grass being mown, like in Moscow, like Russians, Belarusians. That’s the kind of city it was…” Lukashenka said.

Immediately after this, the Belarusian ambassador was summoned to the Israeli Foreign Ministry and expressed their dissatisfaction with Lukashenka’s words.

“We are shocked and express our indignation. Apart from the Iranian president, no one speaks like that, “ said then the deputy head of the European and Asian department of the Israeli Foreign Ministry Pini Avi.

The head of the Israeli Foreign Ministry Tzipi Livni also responded to Lukashenka’s statement.

“World leaders must take responsibility for the fight against anti-Semitism, which is raising its ugly head in various parts of the world, and not encourage it.”

“Zisser is behaving dishonestly”

Speaking with the annual address to parliament in 2015, Lukashenka again spoke unflatteringly about Jews. In particular, about founder of the tut.by portal Yuri Zisser, because the journalists of the publication criticized Lukashenka's decree on the introduction of a tax for citizens working less than 183 days a year.

“Semyon Borisovich, Zisser is behaving dishonestly, I see. A year ago, I asked you to take control of all the Jews in Belarus,” Lukashenka told the head of the capital region, Shapiro.

“We are working on it,” Shapira smiled at Lukashenka.

Later, Chairman of the Union of Belarusian Jewish Public Organizations Boris Gersten defended Lukashenka and justified his words by emotionality.

“I don't think that these are some of his convictions, because in fact, based on the actions that we see, they show him as a very tolerant person. In fact, we do not see any manifestations of anti-Semitism here in Belarus.”

Yuri Zisser himself then expressed concern about such statements.

Following this incident, human rights activist Tatsiana Raviaka wrote to the Prosecutor General's Office of Belarus asking them to check whether Lukashenka's words contained any elements of a crime under Article 130 of the Criminal Code of Belarus (incitement of racial, national or religious hatred or discord).

The prosecutor's office predictably responded that the statement “contains no evidence of a violation of the law.”

“Jews ruled the world”

During his speech at the Mound of Glory on the occasion of Independence Day in 2021, Lukashenka compared the memory of World War II with the memory of the Holocaust and said that the Jews, who “ruled the world and the media,” “are revered by the whole world.”

He spoke about the participation of Belarusians in the fight against the Nazis during World War II and proposed launching an investigation into the “genocide of the Belarusian people.”

“The Jews were able to prove it, after all. The whole world bows before them today, they are even afraid to point a finger at them, and we are so tolerant, so kind, we did not want to offend anyone. They ended up offending us,” said Lukashenka.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry considered these statements by Lukashenka unacceptable.

Armenians are smart because there are no Jews there

In December 2023, at a meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council in St. Petersburg, Lukashenka decided to “praise” the Armenians. And for some reason he cited the Jews as an example.

Lukashenka told journalists about the situation of Armenia, which is trying to direct its efforts to improving relations with the West.

“If Armenia wants to die economically, we can lose it. But I do not think that Armenians are stupid people. Armenians are smart people. After all, there is not a single Jew there. Do you know why there are no Jews in Armenia? Because Armenians are the smartest people,” said Lukashenka.

Although the Israeli publication 7kanal.co.il notes that there is a Jewish community in Armenia, in which about 400 people live, refuting Lukashenka's words.

“Corrupt Jews”

In May 2024, at a meeting of Lukashenka with the government, scolding the inspector for the Vitsebsk region Ihar Brylo, who was involved in a corruption scandal, he again mentioned Jews.

Lukashenka noted that 30 more people are involved in the case. And he added the following.

“Excuse me, I am not an anti-Semite, but more than half of them are Jews. They hold a special, privileged position here, that they steal and do not think about their future... Everyone is the same before the law. Jews, Belarusians, Ukrainians, Russians and Poles.”

JNS reported that Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz called Lukashenka's statements about Jews involved in corruption in the republic unacceptable, outrageous and anti-Semitic.

Lukashenka's attitude to Israel's war with Hamas

Belarusian propaganda has been anti-Israeli since the first days of the war.

For example, Minskaya Pravda wrote that “a victory for Palestine is a victory for Moscow and Minsk”, although the material was later removed.

Lukashenka himself blamed the “Americans” for the conflict in the Middle East and said that a Palestinian state should be created.

“This is a disaster. The Middle East is just like the theater of military operations that we have here, and if the Middle East explodes, it will be hot for everyone there. It will heat up both us and all the countries further north. God alone knows how the situation will develop there. It is the Americans who are now starting this whole mess.”

And on May 7, 2024, Aliaksandr Lukashenka stated that “Israel is bombing civilians.”

The Belarusian authorities also take an exclusively pro-Palestinian position and ignore the terrorist attack of October 7, 2023. Thus, the Council of the Republic “strongly condemns the attacks on civilian infrastructure in the Gaza Strip, including refugee camps, hospitals, and schools.”

The first and last trip to Israel

The other day, historian Alexander Friedman aptly spoke about Israel's attitude towards Aliaksandr Lukashenka:

“Lukashenka told how he proved during his “first trip” to Israel in 2000 that he was not an anti-Semite.

The evidence was so convincing that the first trip turned out to be his last. The Israeli authorities have never invited him again over the past 25 years, but they did manage to accuse him of anti-Semitism several times.”

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