Putin’s Jews Appear on US Sanctions List

The primary distorted talking point of the Putin cult is that he “kicked out” Jewish oligarchs. The reality is that Putin – like Stalin before him – had an internal feud with a handful of oligarchs, seized their wealth for himself and his cronies, and replaced those oligarchs with others more loyal to his leadership.

A Times of Israel article noted the trove of Jewish billionaires who flourished under Putin in Russia, named in a US Treasury Department list of sanctioned Russians close to Putin:

114 politicians and 96 oligarchs considered fair game for sanctions include European Jewish Council head Moshe Kantor and Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich

Several Jewish billionaires, including the head of the European Jewish Congress, appear on a list of Russian politicians and oligarchs published by the US Treasury as part of a sanctions law against Moscow.

The list of 114 politicians and 96 oligarchs, which was ordered by Congress in response to Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential campaign, all rose to power under President Vladimir Putin. They are considered to be fair game for sanctions under legislation meant to punish Russia for its interference in the US election, as well as other actions such as human rights violations, annexation of Crimea and ongoing military operations in eastern Ukraine.

The billionaire Jews named include Moshe Kantor, Roman Abramovich, Mikhail Fridman, Vadim Moshkovich, God Nisanov, as well as Arkady and Boris Rotenberg. All of those Jews are active members and funders of Jewish organizations and causes, as well as Israel.

A 2014 report which I’ve quoted many times revealed that 25% of the richest Russians are Jews who accrued their wealth because of Putin, not in spite of him.

The Putin apologists deceptively point to the internal spat among the Gusinsky/Berezovsky faction and the Abramovich-led Chabad Lubavitch-oriented faction of Russian Jews, as if proof that shuffling the deck chairs means Putin elmiminated Jewish influence from Russia entirely, even as he has since passed Holocaust denial, anti-Semitism and anti-Nazi laws to please his Jewish oligarch friends and Israel.

Trump recently told Fox News that Putin is a “big fan” of Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel, something us Putin critics noted years ago when Putin met with a delegation of rabbis from Israel and declared his support for the country, among many other things.