Antisemitism in the Post-Soviet Space Against the Backdrop of Conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East

The global conflicts of the twentieth century profoundly shaped the lives of Jews living in Eastern Europe. Key milestones include the Pale of Settlement in the Russian Empire, waves of Jewish emigration across the continent, antisemitic conspiracy theories, and the systematic extermination of Jewish populations in Europe and North Africa. Subsequently, the Cold War and the descent of the Iron Curtain divided Eastern Europe and fostered Soviet state antisemitism, which significantly contributed to the emergence of the new wave of antisemitism prevalent in Western nations today.

In 2022, warfare returned to Eastern Europe, followed in 2023 by conflict in the Middle East. These events triggered a resurgence of antisemitism worldwide. According to monitoring data from the relevant Israeli ministry, the first three weeks of the Middle East conflict (from October 7 to October 25, 2023) saw a 330% increase in antisemitic violence globally compared to the same period of the previous year, while the overall number of antisemitic incidents increased fivefold.

The state of antisemitism in the post-Soviet space amidst these two ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East is the central focus of the latest episode of the "Jewish Discourse" podcast.