His heart in the East: The war in Europe touches Nathan Sharansky in the most personal way

The former minister, a native of Donetsk, talks in the Maariv supplement about his struggle as an aliyah activist and his years in the Russian prison, returns to his meetings with Putin and Zalansky and opposes Israel's conduct toward the confrontation between Ukraine and Russia and the Ukrainian refugees.

As for the integrity of the coalition, he does not show much optimism

Sheri Makover-Belikov, Maariv Supplement

30/04/2022

Saturday, 30 April 2022, 17:22 Updated: 20:27

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In the first days of the war in Ukraine, Natan Sharansky was invited to a celebration of seven blessings on the occasion of her son's wedding and Neta Dickstein.

The groom's parents and brother were killed in the attack when he was 7, and Sharansky, who was serving as a minister in the Netanyahu government at the time, attended their funeral.

"The eldest son promised at the parents' graves that he would take care of all the orphaned brothers and sisters left alone, and when the last child got married, I was invited to attend in his joy," Sharansky says today.

"I'm a neighbor of the family and was very happy to come in and greet her."

But the blessing of Sharansky, a famous prisoner of Zion, a native of Donetsk, Ukraine, dealt less with marriage and more with the Russian invasion.

"When I was growing up in Ukraine, there were a lot of nations and peoples in it," he told those gathered.

"Their IDs said 'Russian,' 'Ukrainian,' 'Georgian,' or 'Kozaki,' and it was not so important because there was no big difference between them, but if it said 'Jew' on the ID, it felt like you had We knew nothing about Judaism, there was nothing significant in our Jewish identity except anti-Semitism and hatred towards us, so while others did not try to replace the word 'Russian' with the word 'Ukrainian' in the ID card, for example, to be admitted to university if a Jew was successful To change his nationality to another nationality, his chances of being accepted were much higher.

In continuous contact with leaders in Ukraine.

Natan Sharansky (Photo: Official Website, Israel Salem Soup)

"But today the world is turned upside down. In the first week of the war, when thousands of people stand on the borders of Ukraine day and night trying to escape the tragedy, the word 'Jew' can help them get out of there. And when you were a child, 'Jew' was an unusual word for evil, no one envied us, and today on the Ukrainian border 'Jew' is an unusual word for good, it describes people who have a place to go and a whole, which is their family "Waiting for them outside."

Sharansky's blessing went up on social media and within hours went viral.

Even in the time that has passed since the outbreak of the war, Sharansky is still living the things he said at the beginning.

"I was born near Mariupol, which in recent days has been completely destroyed," he says painfully.

"When we were children, we went out to this city to summer camps, and when I grew up, there were more than a hundred nations in Mariupol, including Cossacks, Armenians, Tatars and Ukrainians. Today only the Jewish nation is relevant, Like a human GPS, they are told when to flee and where to get to, where a shuttle will wait for them, and who will drive them to the border. ".

Is this solidarity expressed in aid even without Jews in Ukraine?

"Yes. Before the war we started building a Holocaust museum in Babi Yar, and when the Russians invaded Ukraine we made sure to evacuate all our workers, most of whom were non-Jews, to western Ukraine."

Are you also participating in the rescue attempts?

"I try to help in all the ways that are available to me. I am in constant contact with leaders in Ukraine and also with the agency people who worked with me as chairman of the agency and now they are organizing fantastic operations to help refugees.

On the first day of the war, Rabbi Moshe Weiss called me and said that he had come to one of the orphanages in Ukraine, but he did not know how the Jewish children could be taken out during the fighting.

So we contacted the Israeli ambassador to Ukraine and the representatives of the Jewish Agency in the field, and after a few tense and dramatic days we managed to bring the orphans to the border in Lvov.

"There was a line of refugees that stretched for several hundred kilometers. We knew that if they waited there until the next day, it would be too late and impossible to rescue them. So we moved the orphans to Moldova and eventually everyone came to Israel. Such stories happen almost every day. It is not. "Only the solidarity of the Jewish people is also the deep understanding that today we have a back and a state and a mechanism and organizations that help Jews in distress all over the world, and that in places where the word 'Jew' used to discriminate against you, today it discriminates for good."

In the video: A Moment of Wisdom - The Story of Natan Sharansky (from the Moment of Wisdom project, by the Kochavi Uri Meirim Association in Israel)

After Zlansky in fire and water

At the age of 5, Anatoly Sharansky discovered life as a Soviet citizen.

Stalin died, the Jews breathed a sigh of relief, and Sharansky's father explained to him that a miracle had happened to them on this day, and that it should be perpetuated for generations.

"But Dad also told me, do not tell anyone that you are happy, on the contrary, go to kindergarten and do what everyone else does," Sharansky says today.

"I went to kindergarten, cried with all the children about Stalin's death, and asked myself how many of them were really crying and how many were crying because their father told them to do it.

"It was the epitome of Soviet life. Everything is a lie, you know it's a lie but play by the rules without any freedom and personal identity, because whoever does not know the freedom to say what he thinks, does not even know what he is losing. And I will discover my Jewish identity and ask to immigrate to Israel, and this request will ruin my career and send me to many years in prison and maybe even endanger my life, I certainly would not fight for my freedom and identity, but after I found out how good it is to say exactly what I think, so even at home "I chose the prisoner to be a free man. That is exactly what is happening in Ukraine today."

"Ukraine was among the first countries to gain independence after the disintegration of the former Soviet Union. It bravely withstood all pressures even when US President George W. Bush came to Ukraine and tried to dissuade it from declaring independence on the grounds that Gorbachev was her friend and should remain under his protection. It was such a naive request that when a people finally wants to gain independence, it's hard to take it from him.

"Today Ukraine is independent for 30 years, and although it still suffers from a lot of problems, its elections are free, and there is no such phenomenon that one man can be president forever. Ukraine understood eight years ago what the world understands only now, that Putin does not really oppose an alliance with NATO, that's just an excuse.

Putin wants to take from Ukraine the freedom and independence it has achieved with great effort, and those who have already tasted the taste of independence will not give it up so quickly.

If the Ukrainians were naive to think that if they just did not join NATO the Russians would let them, they would not go to war. But in Ukraine they understood that they were fighting for their right to exist. They knew very well that Putin wanted to return Ukraine to Russia and take away their freedom. He was the first to recognize it, which is why he became such an exciting leader that the masses followed him with fire and water. "

Nice and cordial.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zalansky (Photo: Reuters, EYEPRESS via Reuters Connect)

Does the world understand that too?

"From the first moment of the war I said here in Israel and later in other languages ​​to countries around the world that this is not a war on land in Ukraine but a Russian effort to change the order of all the principles on which the free world is built. Everything we achieved after World War II is now in danger. She is the one who is currently at the forefront, but she is only the first victim, so the whole world needs to mobilize to help her, not only for her own sake but for her own. Would not give it to him, because today even the Ukrainian people understand that this is a war of independence and not a war of peace agreements.This is exactly what happened to me when I was imprisoned in Russia. But I knew that this statement symbolized the relinquishment of my freedom and identity, and I could not agree to that. "

"I saw some of his films when he was a successful satirist. Before joining politics, Zlanski created a series about a school teacher cursing the leaders and the school principal almost fired him, but the students manage to record his statements and upload them to the web. It goes viral, gaining influence, and before the principal Enough to fire the teacher, he becomes one of the most popular people in the country. That is also what happened to Zalanski himself in reality. "

"Yes, we met several times before the war, both when we arrived at the exciting ceremony marking the 80th anniversary of the murder of Abi Yar and later, when all the events were over, to promote the establishment of the museum at the killing site. The president devoted a lot of time to our staff. He seems to be examined if he plays the role of president, or is he just a stand-up comedian playing the role of president as in his films, but during the war he became a source of power and inspiration for the Ukrainian people. This can only be discovered in critical situations. I will have strength in the struggle itself. "

Putin dreams of an empire

And Putin?

"As a human rights activist and while I was an aliyah activist, I can say many good things about Putin. He personally has no hatred for Jews. On the contrary, he even has sympathy for them. He told me and the whole world, how at a young age, when he had a difficult childhood, His Jewish neighbors have helped him.Since he has learned to appreciate the Jews and their support, but unfortunately, this does not conflict with the fact that he is a dictator and barbarian who strives to create a bad world for all of us, and probably bad for the Jews as well.

"That in Israel there will be no illusions about him, even 20 years ago when I met him and we talked about the Jews, he said the Soviet Union was wrong when it did not allow Jews to live community life, but since then it has become clear to him that everything is in his interests. He will not miss the opportunity to use Syria and Iran. And now he has global ambitions. He feels he is the strongest leader in the world because here Bush and Obama and Merkel are coming and going and he remains on the throne forever.

"Putin dreams of establishing an empire.

That's why it's very, very dangerous for the world.

Between Putin's evil and Zalanski's power, Ukraine has entered the history of the free world like never before.

In fact, when Putin declared Ukraine before he invaded it that it was not a nation but an artificial state, he actually contributed more than anyone else to make it a central nation in the life of the free world. "

"I have no doubt that when Putin helped Ukraine emphasize its power and make it a freedom fighter, it destroyed and gave a death blow to Russia's role and place in history and made it a threat to world freedom. All of Russia's efforts to build itself as a power and bridge between West and East were completely destroyed. "Through the war in Ukraine, Putin has made Russia isolated and hated."

"To tell the truth, as a fighter against the regime, I never felt I was fighting against my people and culture. On the contrary, the Russian intellectual atmosphere was light in the dark. Today I feel that the atmosphere of Russian culture and literature, which has always been opposed to dictatorship, has been damaged and destroyed. 150 interrogations in the KGB.

In one of them one of the researchers told me, you are part of the Russian people, who have invested so much culture in you and as a result you have succeeded in university, how do you go against it and against it?

I told him, wait, wait, do you want to say that Tolstoy and Dostoevsky are with you against me?

You are wrong, they are with me against you and against your rule.

I used to say proudly, I am Jewish but Russian culture gives me strength to fight.

Today it will be much harder to say that. "

Made Russia hated.

Putin in a meeting with Natan Sharansky (Photo: courtesy of those photographed)

Sharansky is considered in Russia to be one of the most brilliant minds in the exact sciences.

He discovered an extraordinary talent in chess and applied mathematics and worked with the renowned physicist Andrei Sakharov.

As an ardent Zionist, he encouraged Jews to immigrate to the State of Israel, which did not help him immigrate on his own.

His application for an exit visa to Israel was denied for reasons defined as "security", and his wife Avital immigrated to Israel alone immediately after their marriage, hoping that her husband would receive permission to immigrate after her later.

Sharansky, who was left alone, joined the human rights organization "Helsinki Group" and became the main spokesman for Jewish prisoners and those who refused to immigrate.

In 1977, an indictment was filed against him on suspicion of passing to the West a list of names of those who refused to immigrate, some of whom were denied on the grounds that they held state secrets.

The court convicted him of treason and espionage, incitement and anti-Soviet propaganda and sentenced him to 13 years in prison.

In practice, Sharansky ran nine years in prison, including 16 months in Portovo.

In his autobiographical book "I Will Not Be Bad" he wrote that he managed to survive the detention camps because thanks to his adherence to his Jewish identity and his desire to immigrate to Israel he remained free in his mind.

During the years he was imprisoned, Sharansky became a symbol of the struggle for human rights and Judaism in the Soviet Union.

He was finally released in 1986, thanks to his wife Avital's stubborn struggle and heavy Western diplomatic pressure.

The Sharanskys received the U.S. Congress Gold Medal, the second most important decoration in the United States in recognition of their struggle for human rights.

Later, Sharansky also received the United States Presidential Medal of Freedom from George W. Bush and became the first Israeli and the fourth non-American man (after Nelson Mandela, Pope John Paul II and Mother Theresa) to receive the two most important American decorations, the President and Congress.

Sharansky served as a minister and MK in the Israeli government and chairman of the Jewish Agency. His political view is that there will never be real peace with Arab countries as long as they are dictatorships, and that peace can be made only on the basis of power. The only minister who opposed the agreements at Camp David, Sharansky replied, "I am Russian.

I came from one of the largest countries in the world to one of the smallest.

Do you want me to split it in two?

No, thank you. "

Sharansky often works for the rights of the individual and society. He recently spoke about the connection between personal and national freedom in a special episode filmed on Independence Day as part of the" Moment of Wisdom "project, the world's largest Jewish video platform led by Rabbi Khoni Yakont, CEO "Stars of Light Shines for Israel", which deals with helping the needy, single mothers and children from ruined families.

Russian bomb damage in Luhansk, April 2022 (Photo: Reuters)

"Who would have believed that Israel would refuse to help"

It was considered a symbol of the struggle for human rights in the former Soviet Union, and today human rights are being brutally violated in your home country.

"It's not even human rights violations, it's war crimes. Putin decided he must renew the Russian Empire so 12 years ago he tried to bring back Georgia, Belarus and Chechnya, and for eight years he has been trying to bring Ukraine back under Russian control. But now It turns out that in order to do that he needs to create an atmosphere of fear and re-close Russian society, so he passed a series of even worse laws than I did when I was born. Today you can go to jail if you just say that what is happening in Ukraine is war. "The independent media. It is very worrying. It is hard to believe that Russia can be brought back to the Iron Curtain so quickly and so easily."

"There are a lot of economic and political interests in the Babi Yar area, and in order to gain rights and build there, the bureaucracy and currents under the surface had to be overcome, so from time to time the president personally goes into the thick of things. Ukraine has a lot of admiration for independent Israel. For the Ukrainians, Israel is a source of inspiration and choice of a Jewish president who emphasizes his identity and Judaism and was in the Land of Israel and loves Israel proves that today anti-Semitism is not something that dictates in any way the lifestyle and thoughts of the Ukrainians.

"Then comes the war and a week later I send an email of support and sympathy to the head of Zalanski's team, and immediately I get an email from him in which he writes: 'Nathan, who would have believed that the country we love and admire so much would refuse to help us when bombs fall on Kyiv I had a very hard time reading this email. From the first moment of the war I talked about our duty to be the free people who support the Ukrainian people in their struggle for freedom and to my surprise I was in the minority. The response was always that Israel's moral and democratic duty "Respect the agreements with Russia and we must not take a stand. But it is such a typical story of good versus evil, and when all countries send weapons and aid, it will be so obvious that we are the only ones who will not be part of efforts to strengthen good against evil."

"I am very happy that we are providing humanitarian aid, but even around the establishment of the hospital there were issues, because there was a fear that the Russians would think it was a kind of weapon in favor of Ukraine."

Kochav Meir Israeli Hospital in Ukraine (Photo: Official Website, Anat Glass)

Bennett's attempts to mediate between the Russians and the Ukrainians?

"I really hope Bennett knows what he's doing. He believes he can make an impact, and if he's right then it's good, but if it's just maintaining neutrality and presenting some pictures with Putin, it will have a price. Because in the end, no matter what the consequences, Of the war, Ukraine will be one of the symbols of the free world fighting for its independence.Even Zalansky refers to this when he now speaks to the whole world and asks: We are fighting for you today, so why are you not helping us? Russia in contrast will become at least the next ten years if not more The most hated countries in the world, and so it turns out, that because of the interest in maintaining friendship with Russia, we were not willing to give minimal recognition, even a casket to one of the Ukrainian soldiers, which brings us to a problematic situation.

"All over the world today they say, let's first treat refugees and help Ukraine, and then we will examine what our interests are. And only in Israel do they say, let's first protect our interests and only then will we take care of refugees. I am no longer talking about the moral side of this war. "Today we see more and more atrocities taking place in Ukraine and when it is clear what needs to be done there. But also on the public and personal level it is clear what needs to be done not only as a good-seeking state but also as Jews and as human beings."

On Zalanski's speech to ministers and Knesset members, Sharansky said: "Zalanski made a serious mistake when he spoke about the Holocaust. It is very possible that there may have been 2,700 Righteous Among the Nations who risked their lives and the lives of their families to help the Jews, but in contrast there were tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, who collaborated with the Germans and were worse than the Nazis. And the Jewish lesson from this story is that Putin may not want to kill Israel as they wanted to kill the Jews in the Holocaust, but he does change the rules of the game and try to take the world back 500 years, when wars raged in Europe and leaders could conquer and rape and murder without any reckoning. Because they had the power for it.

"This is a very dangerous evil of a new-old world that Putin is trying to produce, so from the first moment we had to stand up against it. We say, we have a moral debt to the Ukrainians, and I say, it is not a moral debt to them, it is a moral debt to ourselves and a practical debt to Ukraine. "It will not happen to us there either. Not because of the history of Ukraine we have to join the war, but because they are now going through suffering and because we understand what a danger this is to the whole free world."

"I have said these things to our leaders more than once, and apart from Meir Lapid, who felt more or less like me, the answers I received were that the strategic interests of the security of the State of Israel do not allow us the luxury of being 'beautiful'. I do not agree with these answers. I think "Israeli support is an integral part of Israel's strategic interest."

Exile from Ukraine in Lublin synagogue, March 2022 (Photo: Reuters)

Israel's approach to refugees - neither moral nor Jewish

What do you think about the Israeli behavior towards the refugees from Ukraine?

"We acted on this issue with great stupidity. As soon as such a tragedy occurs, we first open the doors and only then begin to think. 20,000 refugees and that's it. There will be no more. And it's a shame, because if we said from the beginning, sure, we would be happy to open the gates and the heart and receive the refugees from the inferno in Ukraine, so in any case 25,000 refugees would come here, but we would look different towards the world and towards Poland is a much poorer country than Israel, and not only has it opened its gates to millions of refugees, it also provides them with medical care and food. "Perhaps those over the age of 60 will be given basic rights. But at the moment, the attitude towards the refugees is neither moral nor Jewish."

"I was in the government and also in the Jewish Agency, and I think I know the source of this approach. There is a feeling, especially among Interior Ministry employees and officials, that they are the last line of defense of the Jewish state and that once they relinquish control, we will cease to be a Jewish state. I can imagine There are situations where this approach is correct. If hundreds of thousands of migrant workers or illegal Palestinian workers came to Israel, it would endanger us, but in many moral and humanitarian cases it is so untrue.

"Our problem is that in Israel the leaders depend on bureaucracy and bureaucracy and do not take an independent initiative. Leaders should take the initiative and see the big picture. Ayelet Shaked should not listen to what the officials tell her. She should examine things broadly, historically, morally and strategically, and say, now open. The gates because it is the order of the hour and the order of Judaism and morals and practice, and if 50,000 refugees come here, we will decide what to do. We must remember that the Ukrainians did not decide to flee to Israel. It is too late for anyone with friends and acquaintances in Israel to arrive, it would not have happened today, that everyone, from the President of Ukraine to the last officials there knows that the first reaction of the State of Israel was to cancel the visa agreement between Israel and Ukraine and put all kinds of obstacles in the way. By the way, we did not do with Moscow. "

This is what remains in the collective memory and this is what will remain even though it is so contrary to the natural sense of Jewish society and the Torah and the Jewish people.

It is very sad that some politicians run by bureaucrats are destroying the image of the State of Israel.

"It is a pity that in a war that may go down in history as the most important war after World War II aimed at protecting the free world, it will be written in the pages of history that all countries gave weapons and assistance and Israel refused to provide aid.

Retired from politics, but still critical.

Natan Sharansky in the Knesset, June 2017 (Photo: Niv Aharonson)

16 שנה חלפו מאז פרש שרנסקי מהפוליטיקה, אבל הדבר אינו מונע ממנו לבחון בעין ביקורתית את המהלכים הפוליטיים שהתרחשו לאחרונה. הוא חושש שהממשלה הנוכחית לא מסוגלת להתקדם כשראש הממשלה תלוי בכל שר, ומאמין שכדי שממשלת השינוי תישאר יציבה על כל שר לטפל רק בענייני המשרד שעליו הוא מופקד.

"ברגע שאתה מתחיל לדאוג למה שקורה במשרד של האחר, אתה מסכן את כל הקואליציה", מחדד שרנסקי. "איך יכול להיות שהמשבר עם עידית סילמן התרחש סביב הכנסת אוכל לבתי חולים? כי שר הבריאות הוא גם יו"ר מרצ והוא חייב למצוא נושאים שרלוונטיים גם לבוחרים שלו ולא רק למשרד שלו. זה שהוא נלחם בקורונה זה מצוין, אבל איך זה משרת את קהל הבוחרים שלו? אז הוא לקח נושא של הכנסת חמץ למקום ציבורי שיש עליו הסכמה, והפך אותו לאג'נדה, כי הוא צריך הישגים גם כפוליטיקאי, לא רק כשר בקואליציה".

מה אתה צופה שיקרה לממשלה?

"ממשלה כזו יכולה לשרוד רק אם יש שקט וסדר ואין משברים ומלחמות. ברגע שיש משברים, אני לא יודע איך הממשלה תוכל לקדם החלטות ראויות נגד רצון הרוב ועדיין להגן על זכויותיו. לא הייתי אופטימי בהתחלה ועכשיו אני אופטימי אפילו פחות".

מה האלטרנטיבה? נתניהו הוביל לארבעה סבבי בחירות.

"לא פגשתי מנהיג בסדר גודל כמו נתניהו. ביבי היה מדינאי ענק שתמיד ידע לעבוד מחוץ לקופסה. אשתי אביטל פגשה אותו כדיפלומט צעיר בוושינגטון במסגרת המאבק על שחרורי מהכלא, וביבי התגייס מיד. הוא חיבר אותה לאנשים ולממשלות, והיו לו קשרים ורעיונות יוצאי דופן איך להפוך את הקונגרס לאוהד יותר ואיך לקשור את גורל אסירי ציון עם מלחמת הכוכבים. גם כשהיה שר בממשלה הוא תכנן שינויים מרחיקי לכת ועמד מול אתגרים והתנגדויות, ועשה את הצעדים הביטחוניים הראשונים נגד איראן וסוריה כשאף אחד בכלל לא חשב עליהם כאיום קיומי".

איך זה מתחבר לכתבי האישום ולטענות לשחיתות?

"כנראה זה לא טוב שאדם נמצא בשלטון כל כך הרבה זמן. כשהשאלה איך להמשיך ולהישאר בשלטון הופכת לדבר המרכזי באסטרטגיה, אז אולי צריך להתחיל לבחון את סיום השלטון. אולי נתניהו מאמין שאם הוא לא ימשיך להיות בשלטון זה יסכן את השלטון. וזו בעיה. אדם לא יכול לשלוט לנצח. אני חושב שהגבלת השלטון באמריקה היא דבר מאוד חכם, כי בהיעדר הגבלת שלטון, באיזה שהוא שלב אתה מרגיש שהדבר הכי חשוב למדינת ישראל הוא המשך השליטה. אני חושב שמזמן היה צריך להכין בליכוד דור חדש לשלטון".

למשל ידידך הוותיק יולי אדלשטיין?

"יולי ידיד קרוב ומבחינתו השמיים הם הגבול, אבל אני לא מתעקש שביבי היה צריך להחליט על יולי כממשיך דרכו. ביבי היה צריך להחליט שעוד שנה־שנתיים הוא מסיים ואז לחלק את הניסיון שלו עם כמה מועמדים בליכוד. צריך לתת למפלגה שלו אופציות, לא להילחם נגד כל מי שיכול להחליף את נתניהו בקדנציה הבאה".

גם בגן עדן עושים תיקונים

כל חייך נשאת עיניים למדינת ישראל, והנה עכשיו ישראל במצב מאתגר פוליטית, חברתית וביטחונית. אפילו האקלים מאיים. יש בך איזה הרהור על הבחירה בארץ הזו, שלפעמים נדמה שהיא אוכלת יושביה?

"אני חושב שארץ ישראל היא המקום הטוב ביותר בעולם. כל כך הרבה פעמים שמעתי שזה סוף המדינה, ואני אומר, רגע, תסתכלו איפה היינו היום לפני 20 או 50 שנה ותבינו באיזה צעדי ענק אנחנו צועדים להיות עם חופשי בארצו. אני מאמין שלכל בני האדם יש שני רצונות בסיסיים, להיות חופשי ולהיות שייך. אבל בעוד שבכל מדינות העולם נלחמים איך להגן על החופש דרך ויתור על זהות, במדינת ישראל מתעקשים לשמור על החופש וגם על הזהות.

"I have been to almost every democracy in the world, and I think there is no place that in such a natural, organic way, almost with air and sun, allows to live by personal identity and still be free. We live in paradise. Admittedly with a lot of renovations and corrections, And if the need arises, repairs are sometimes made in heaven as well. "

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• Nathan Sharansky