Moscow Declares Former Chief Rabbi in Exile a 'Foreign Agent'

Pinchas Goldschmidt left Moscow in March 2022.

Russia branded Moscow's former chief rabbi a «foreign agent» after he left resigned to protest the invasion of Ukraine and urged Jews to flee for their safety.

Pinchas Goldschmidt told The Telegraph earlier this year that anti-Semitism has been on the rise in Russia since the start of the war and warned that Jews are being made into goats absolutions for Local hardships “will get worse.”

The exiled rabbi left Moscow in March 2022 and resigned from his post a few months later. Since then he has been living in Israel. After 30 years in Moscow, he said religious leaders were pressured to support and «sanctify» the war.

A Russian Justice Ministry statement says he was appointed a «foreign agent» for spreading «false information about decisions taken by state authorities” and for opposing the war in Ukraine.

“For the first time since the beginning of the war, a religious leader has been declared a foreign agent and described by the Russian government as a hostile threat,” Israeli publication Ynet News quotes Rabbi Goldschmidt .

“It is very likely that this will mark the beginning of a new anti-Semitic campaign against the Jewish community in Russia,” he said, adding that he was proud to be “on the right side of history.”

The former religious leader again urged Jews to leave Russia «before that happens.» too late.”

Since the start of the war last year, there has been an exodus of Jews from Russia, with more than 43,000 emigrated to Israel alone, according to the Israeli government.

Denoting that tantamount to a charge of espionage or treason, has been applied to journalists, human rights organizations, public figures and politicians since the beginning of the war in the context of the suppression of dissent.