Why should you not be accepted ? Every Jew can make alya , it's law . But this law was also "misused" by some , who saw in it a possibility to have a better life , and get out of their country . So Larry , try it , Baruch Habah .

it's probably too late to send them "back where they came from" (their mothers probably don't want them, either). simply being anti-semitic louts isn't sufficient reason to strip them of citizenship (or else certain members of the knesset might also qualify). but the least that the army can do is lock them up until they finish their service, and then discharge them with such a stain on their record that they won't find work in israel. it won't change their attitudes, but it might deter others from trying the same schtick, especially if it's done officially and publicly and above-board. unfortunately, these hooligans can't be rehabilitated or assimilated, and eventually they will move to other countries and damage israel's reputation with their israeli passports. (jewish or not, israeli citizens with military training and engaging in mafia-related crime present a poor image of israel.)

Has the IDF fallen so low as to tolerate behavior from Russian or any other recruits that is so unsoldierly. These thugs should be thrown out along with the NCOs and Officers who tolerate them. I am proud that my US ARMY would not for a minute put up with such behavior. Don'y disgrace the honorable title SOLDIER be calling these tramps such.

The pursuit of sensationalism has farther reaching effects than you think. Media can be a form of terror. The average citizen cannot do anything about this problem and all you are asked is to feel hopelessness.

there is a saying "be on the side of your brother wether he has done right or wrong. When he errs help him to confine to the right path" So which path the other soldiers are on?; right or wrong path?

This has nothing to do with sensationalism. And there are things that can be done to stop anti-Semitism in the IDF. A lot can be done.

If you prevent those people from getting honest work, you are creating a much bigger problem. These are kids that did not choose to come to Israel. Their parents did. So offer them incentives to go back to Russia. There is still time to do that before they get settled with families and jobs. And to those who are already guilty of racist acts, offer them a choice of jail or relocation to Russia.

regarding how many of those Russians are religious Jews, never mind their actual Jewish blood ancestry? 1%? 10%?

Balance Mizrahim? I believe you're right. But this gets us to another discrimination problem between the Jews in Israel: It is as if Mizrahim are inferior and less than Ashkinazim and other Jews! But they are being treated worse than non-Jewish Arabs and being rejected from schools and social life as if they are viruses! Is this the equality the Jews seeked in Israel?

We don't need this kind of behavior in the IDF.

It is not 60% The problem is husbands and wives that are GOY raising there family GOY families that married. Israel did not care as long as the Husband was jewish then they were able to enter the country as a Israeli Citizen but the other side of the family is actually GOY and very proud of it.

I'd like to point out not all of there goyim came from Russia proper. The former Soviet Union included also Ukraine with its rich anti-semitic heritage. But that is not the point. Currently things go Uphill in Russia, indeed all over it not only in Moscow region. New jobs are opening. So I'm expecting a bit of back migration in future. These young men wont be returning to Russia of course, they'd rather go to Europa or America. But their parents might return to the country of their ancestors.

guys, i like how this went from a terrible story of racism in the IDF against jews to jews being racist against all russian who live in israel. like some of these comments are disgusting. I'm not russian but am offended for them. fine there are some bad apples but to chastise the whole community with this form of racism is very hypocritical

these anti-semitic, "Heil Hitler" shouting, Jew-abusing scum become officers in the IDF? Or is that now part of the problem since complaints to base commanders did achieve a whole lot. If nothing else, isolate them on base. No Jewish soldier should have to be subjected to that kind of behavior. In the US, that would be like putting some blacks in with a KKK group. This whole thing makes me ill.

I wonder, too. Is this person perhaps paranoid (?)was what came to mind when reading this story. If really true, the IDF should throw out such antisemites.

1. I am a "Russian" Jew; my table manners are just fine. 2. The events described here are deplorable, inexcusable and worthy of the harshest punishment. 3. I have never read as offensive a display of bigotry! Most of the people who founded Zionism and the state of Israel were "Russian" Jews. Walk around Tel Aviv at your convenience and look at the street names. Arlozoroff --born in Russia. Klatzkin -- guess what -- same thing. Sokolov and Weitzmann -- both from Belarus (would have been considered "Russian" in the modern-day Israel). Weizmann's sister Maria, while still in Moscow, was arrested during the "discovery" of the "Doctors' Plot" in 1953, along with other prominent Soviet Jewish physicians. Jabotinksy (that is VLADIMIR) was once a Russian journalist, writer and poet, described as a "great loss for Russian literature" by Kuprin, when he dedicated his life to Zionism; I am sure his table manners were tolerable, too. Ussishkin, Chlenov (if you know who he was), Ahad Ha-Am, Ben Gurion, Sharet, Sharon's and Rabin's parents -- all from Russia. A good third of the "vatikim" -- the repatriants of the yesteryear -- are from the former Soviet Union, even if they are ashamed to admit to it in public. Yes, there were some "non-Jews" (halachically-speaking) in the great wave of repatriation from Russia; most of them had at least one Jewish grandparent and many were called "kikes" by classmates in Russia. The absolute majority of these "non-Jews" are now productive Israeli citizens who serve in the army and pay taxes (compare that with the wig- and hat-wearers in Mea Shearim!). The "Russian" kids at Mivne Alon who did this are morons; they should be severely punished. However, to make the all-encompassing generallizations and open the flood-gates like many of you did in the talk-backs is outrageous! - "More than 60% of Russian immigrants are not Jewish"?? (And just how do you know that, Tevye from Chelm?!) - "The Russians are animals plain and simple"?? (that smells a bit of a feeling of supremacy, Herr Commandant). - "These are freeloaders that came to Israel for what they could get"?? (Freeloaders??? Some of them got a piece of lead through their heart just south of the Litani river less than a year ago). - "Here every one of them got a Free Car and a Free House (Not kidding, it was the law)"?? Mine must be delayed by 18 years! Are you out of your mind, Dan from Haifa? WTF are you talking about? - "I dare say that a large majority of Russians living in Israel are not Jewish. The State needed more European looking people to counter balance the Mizrahim"?? (Thank you for that truly daring opinion, Sepharad. I took the liberty to correct your spelling errors) -Statistics of how many Russian Jews are religious??? Is that what Hitler went by before sending us to the camps?! Go back a year, people, and review the names and the biographies of those who gave their young lives for Israel! So many of them are from Russia, and more than mere severeral have clearly non-Jewish last names. Today, of any days, we should pause to thank them for making the ultimate sacrifice for our country -- for the country, mind you, in which many consider them "goyim", "animals", "stinky donkeys" (my personal favorite) and other such things. All of you who said all these egregious things TODAY -- shame on you! How dare you?! My final remark. I am a physician with a fair amount of expertise in diabetes. Stress is just as likely to induce the onset of diabetes as changing locales of residency. Anyhow, while no one knows why diabetes occurs, most of the theories center on faulty immune responce. While I am sincerely simpathetic for the protagonist in this article, his conviciton that conditions in 'Mihveh Alon' caused the disease are on shaky ground. Making this statement -- without comments to biological plausibility -- a part of this article is rather poor journalism.

Much of what you say is true, but this display of bigotry, as you call it, was not directed towards Russian Jews, who acted so bravely in Israel's history. I'm only speaking for myself here, but I'll tell you that there has been a very emotional response because the last place on the planet where you expect to find anti-Semitism is Israel, and the fact is that this problem was imported. The reasons are not clear, but those who brought people in who had no attachment to Israel or roots in Judaism, from a country with a disgraceful history of pogroms, are guilty of lack of judgment, at the very least. There have been other articles on YNET in the past where Holocaust survivors reported overhearing anti-Semitic words about them from Russians, or incidents of burning the Israeli flag, Nazi salutes, desecrations of holy sites with swasticas, etc. This is very troubling anywhere, but when it happens in Israel, it is extremely hurtful to anyone with a conscience.. You say "shame on you, how dare you', not to the perpetrators of those crimes, but to the victims and their defenders. Something is very wrong with this line of thinking. It would be more beneficial to your country if Israeli Russians themselves were to address this problem within their community, instead of excusing the criminals and attacking the victims.

1) I am from Russia , i am religious and my wife is French. 2) If the discribed events are true, there is no discussion, that those Neo-nazis or whoever they are must be sevrely punished. What the officers have done?! 3) I learned little about the story itself, but i learned enough about your racism. I don't like using harsh words and insults but it's quite impossible to abstain from writing it: Bloody racists , take a look at the list of the IDF soldiers who died during the last war and see how many russians ( Jewish or Halakhakly -challenged) are among them. I am IDF officer , and where are you, "Zionists" preaching "yiddishkeit" from America? (one of you, racists, wrote smt about percent of jewish blood. You are from AmeriKa, may be?) 4) I can bring a heap of stories concerning racism towards Russians in IDF from the beginning of the nineties. but of coarse, "russi masriah" it is a normal, it's not news and doesn't deserve rating. 5) Honorable american army?! Are you kidding? The army which enlists all possible scum and white trash?? ( for who is a normal American who will join the US army?) May be your honorable army waqs in Abu Greib?

you are right, but i have some reservations. I don't like hysteria. 1) you meet an anti-Semitism in Israel? Just kick his face, and it's o.k. 2) Frankly speaking, I have never met antisemites in Israel. but i will never forget, those who shouted at my 60yeas old mother (calm down, 100% jewish) "Russian whore". And these cases are ENORMOUSLY much more than Neo-Nazis in Israel (without any attempt to excuse them) 3)" Israeli Russians themselves were to address this problem within their community, instead of excusing the criminals and attacking the victims"- unacceptable!!! We are not a "comunity" there are a million russian speakers here. and of coase, i have no intention to share any collective responsability.

Thanks for responding. First of all, I'm glad you have never experienced anti-Semitism, but that may have something to do with your size and age. Those people usually go for the weak, the old, the very young, even the dead, when they attack graveyards. Or in the army, they will act in groups against single individuals, as that makes them feel safe. Somebody with a grudge insulted your mother and I'm very sorry about that. It shouldn't have happened. There's always an ignorant person who will attack somebody because of his or her origin. It happens in Israel just as it happens everywhere. Jews are not immune to tribalism. Nobody is. I'm aware of how some Israelis are deeply conscious of their origins. Maybe there's more of that in Israel because it's a young country and the differences between groups are still sharp. However all Jews feel as one when the need comes. I live in Canada where there are rivalries between provinces and ethnic groups. There have been nasty things said about East Coast residents, the West despises Toronto and Ottawa, the French and the English are not too fond of each other, and so on... It's wired in our brains to be competitive and, when we become careless, we are capable of saying regretable things. Let's hope that education can take that edge off Israeli society some day. I'm not dismissing what happened to your mother, so please read on... An anti-Semitic insult, however, brings with it a whole series of very traumatic associations of thousands of years when Jews feared for their lives. Officer, if someone calls someone a whore, it's an insult and a very ugly one. But if someone calls someone a ---- Jew, there's an implicit threat of violence, whether they know it or not. That's a subtle difference that needs to be appreciated. Finally, if you don't feel the need to act to educate other Russians, it's unfortunate, because they would listen to you in a way that they would not listen to a non-Russian. What a lost opportunity. Still, I hope that you will intervene if a fellow soldier comes to you with a complaint of unbecoming behavior from other soldiers. I hope your sense of responsibility will move you to prevent any act or word that demeans the dignity of the IDF, no matter who is guilty of it, and that the guilty will be punished. I want to take this opportunity to give thanks to the IDF and to you for all you do in defending Israel. Every life that you save is precious, and every life that you give up in defense of Israel is precious too, and to be honored and remembered always.

I neither excuse the perpetrators nor attack the victims. I say "shame on you" to the bigots on this site who have the audacity to use the acts of a few adolescent thugs to describe the entire Russian aliya of the '90s, since many of them addressed not the idiots on the army base, but every single oleh from Russia -- myself included. We are 20% of the whole population. We are artists, engineers, physicians, skilled workers, nurses, teachers, researchers, musicians, soldiers, politicians, and businessmen. The overwhelming majority of us are halachically Jewish by the orthodox standards; the overwhelming majority of us are also decidedly secular. Many of us fought for the right to repatriate in the 1980s, were detained by the Soviet secret police for "illegally" studying and teaching Hebrew, fired from our jobs and kicked out of univeristies for having applied for permission to leave for Israel. We came here with the hope for a better future on our own land, lived in makeshift caravans, struggled through the new language (two, actually -- don't forget English), served in the army, gave of ourselves to the country, and put up with those who told us we weren't kosher enough, didn't have enough yiddischkeit, and altogether stank. Whereas in Russia we were "yids" and "kikes", here we became "Russians". Those who say that 60% of us are not Jewish and that we came as freeloaders are spitting in our faces. It is them I shame. As it happens, my parents are both Jewish, but for many of my friends it is not the case. I sincerely hope that my "half-Jewish" buddies who went through Lebanon (twice now) never read some of the garbage in these talkbacks. I am ashamed that my people can be so near-sighted and injust. "Attachments to Israel" or "roots in Judaism" are not perequisites for aliya or for targeting by antisemites. In the first intance its a Jewish ancestor, in the second -- a Jewish-sounding last name, dark hair, large eyes, or a "Jewish" nose (or a Jewish ansestor). Most of the German Jews who perished in the1930s did not speak Yiddish, wear a kippah, or know a word from the Talmud -- and that is why the Law of Return is what it is. Those who brought their "partly Jewish" sons to Israel rather than sending them to the Russian army where they would be terrorized as Jews by their own "comrades" execised good gudgement. There's no forgiveness for those who display antisemitism, in Israel or elsewhere. The criminals described in this article deserve a very harsh punishment, and I wholeheartedly sympathize with the oleh from France. But to generalize this into such libel on the whole stratum of Israeli citizens is no less despicable.

You are so right! I do think that "russi masriach, hazor le rusia" [stinky Russian, go back to Russia, for the others] was one of the first things I heard in Israel! It is so common (and ignored by us "Russians") that it is simply not newsworthy. You are mistaken in one respect, tought. There are many more than 1M Russian-speaker in Israel. Let's figure it out: - About 900000 from the aliya of the 1990s - At LEAST a quarter of the pre-existing population (another 1M) - Kids who born into the "Russian" families since then (100000??) minus those "Russians" who have since died (20, 000??) I'd say that's about 2M (out of about 6M). We are not a "community", Tracy. We are the meat and bones of the country.

Thank you!

Better than we can say for some sectors of the Israeli population.

And IDF would be a defeated army without the contribution of the highly motivated troops with roots in the former Soviet Union. Just look at the death toll in the 2006 Lebanon war. I read the responses here by corrupted, bigoted 'veteran' Israelis and by angry, interventionist American Jews, most whom will never even contemplate moving to Israel yet feel they have the right to tell Israelis they should deprive immigrants from Russia of their citizenship. Enough of this ungrateful attitude. Hopefully, the aliyah from Russia will continue, because it's the best thing that happened to Israel since 1967. And by the way, I'm not even Russian.

Tracy, Thank you for your sincere response (to IDF Officer in this care -- but I am Jewish, so I read it :) ). The point here is not tribalism or nasty words. The point is that most of the responders took this article about a few bad apples and generalized it as if EVERY OLEH FROM RUSSIA (or at least 60% of us) is a monster like that. Even re-reading some of the comments very conservatively, one has to conclude that many "talk-backers" are of the opinion that all those from Russia who are not halachically Jewish are antisemite and walk around provoking fights with French and American olim. It is not so, and it is insulting to me -- a totally halachically kosher Jew, I assure you! These comments betray that these "talk-backers" are convinced that halachic Jews are somehow superior to those who happen to have a non-Jewsih mother, or that those who had a traditional Jewish upbringing are somehow better than those who did not. Moreover, ultimately some said (and many in Israel echo the sentiment) that most of those from Russia are inferior and not to be trusted. One fine Jew from the US compared us to animals, I believe. I think there was a German leader once who did that. IDF officer's mother was not called just a whore, but a "Russian whore". As in "you don't belong here", as in "go the --- back where you came from". Have you any idea how that woman must have felt?! Have you any idea how we felt when we came to Israel full of hope to be among those just like us and faced this?! Ultimately, though, observant or not, we, the ex-Russian Jews, are secure in our Jewishness. But those whose mothers are not Jewish are so much less secure. Have you any idea what a blow in the face this sort of attitude is for them? This is racism, pure and simple. It should not be tolerated in any form and in any country, just like antisemitism shouldn't be. In your final address to IDF officer you say "... if you don't feel the need to act to educate other Russians...". We are not Russians, Tracy. We are Jews. For generations in the USSR our passports said "Jewish" not "Russian" under "Nationality", and "Soviet" under "Citizenship". Russians didn't take us for Russians, to them we were Jews, often kikes. Those few who perpetrated these loathful acts at the army base are no more likely to listen to one of us than they are to listen to baboon. We are kikes to them too. It's so regretful that in the eyes of the North American "Zionists" we appear to be one and the same as them...

was a "Russian". And not only a Russian, his father was a 'useful Jew' in Tzarist Russia and was one of the few Jews allowed to live outside the Pale of Settlement (Stavropol). Joseph himself fought in the Tzarist army in the Russo-Japanese war of 1905, where he lost his arm, the same war American Jewish bankers supported Japan because of Russian anti-Semitic pogroms. And yet it was Trumpelfor, and not those bankers, who co-founded the first Jewish fighting forces in modern times, the Jewish Legion and the Zion Mule Corps. It was Trumpeldor that established Jewish settlements in the Galilee, and died defending them against Arabs in 1920.

Thank you!

This has been a rather painful learning experience for me because I realize I have unfairly hurt people who did not deserve it. I am sorry and I apologize. I wrote out of outrage upon learning about incidents that have no place anywhere, and particularly not in Israel. Although I have been spared anti-Semitism, I carry with me the common wound of a shared history and I take it very personally when I hear of such occurrences. Perhaps it's not an altogether bad thing that this discussion took place and that people expressed their feelings and beliefs on all sides of the issue. I have learned about how you and the IDF Officer feel and I will remember what both of you said next time something like this happens. I hope others who read your comments will be affected by your words too. Israel is unique. Unlike other countries, people can't just pack up and leave when things get tough and then start over somewhere else. Israel is Home, a final destination, and that is why even us abroad feel so protective and react emotionally to threats to Israel to the point where we may be harsh in our judgments. So, again, if I hurt others unfairly, I'm sorry. All the very best to you and Israel.