FACES AND PLACES: "Jews for Yanukovych" (10/31/04)

FACES AND PLACES

by Myron B. Kuropas

"Jews for Yanukovych"

Presidential campaigns in Ukraine have yet to adopt bumper stickers, but, if they did, a popular sticker today would read "Jews for Yanukovych."

Am I surprised? No. Am I disappointed? Sort of. Given my experience with Ukrainian Jews in 1990 and the Jewish renaissance that followed, I had allowed myself to believe that the inclination of most Jews in Ukraine was towards democracy and the West.

It is natural for minorities in every nation to depend on the power structure to survive. No one knows this better than Jews in Ukraine. During Ukraine's Polish domination, Jews were tools of the Polish king; during Soviet times, they began as loyal members of the Soviet ruling elite. Later, Jews were especially well represented in the Soviet secret police (KGB, NKVD, OGPU, Cheka, etc.), where their involvement was significantly larger than their percentage in the general population would suggest. None of this, of course, has ever set well with Ukrainians.

This same phenomenon is making a comeback. Jews are backing the Kuchma gang. According to an October 3 column by Walter Ruby in the Baltimore Jewish Times, interviews conducted in Ukraine last July by the Jewish Telegraph Agency (JTA) found "a preponderance of Jews either favoring Yanukovych, or declaring a 'pox on both your houses' kind of neutrality on the two main candidates."

There are two main reasons for this development. The first has to do with protecting Jewish oligarchs who, like Vadim Rabinovich, president of the All-Ukrainian Jewish Congress, Viktor Pinchuk, President Leonid Kuchma's son-in-law, and Hryhorii Surkis, who owns Kyiv Dynamo, became multi-millionaires during the Kuchma regime. Today, Messrs. Rabinovich and Pinchuk have substantial holdings in the print and electronic media which has been defaming Viktor Yushchenko for years. They may face prison if Mr. Yushchenko is elected and decides to clean house. An investigation of corruption and other nefarious deeds by President Kuchma and the oligarchs supporting him would not be welcome, a major reason why they will do whatever it takes to stay in power.

"Other top Jewish leaders, like Rabbi Yaakov Dov Bleich of the Jewish Confederation and Ilya Levitas of the Jewish Council of Ukraine, while officially neutral," writes Mr. Ruby, "have strong personal ties with Kuchma and key members of his government." The word on the street is that Leonid Kuchma will remain in control as the prime minister in a Yanukovych administration. If Mr. Yushchenko wins, Jews lose.

The majority of Jewish members of the Verkhovna Rada, including Alexander Feldman, president of the Jewish Fund of Ukraine, are rooting for Viktor Yanukovych. The principal Rada exception is Evhen Chervonenko, a millionaire and former racing-car champion who is Mr. Yushchenko's close Jewish adviser.

The age-old Jewish strategy of clinging to those who rule was articulated by Semyon Belmon, chairman of the Jewish community of Chernihiv, who declared: "Jews should support the power of the country in which they live, as long as it is not fascist. All who shout that the power is corrupt and must be changed are just saying that so they can get into power themselves and do the same thing."

According to Mr. Ruby, the "only [Jewish] community leader of note who appears sympathetic to the opposition is Yosef Zissels, a Jewish movement and human rights activist during the Soviet era." Mr. Zissels believes that "it is inevitable that some Jewish 'oligarchs' with close ties to Kuchma will suffer adverse economic and personal consequences if the president is driven from power as a result of an electoral defeat by his protege, Yanukovych."

A Ukrainian patriot, Mr. Zissel's support for Mr. Yushchenko is solid. "I believe Yushchenko would be better for the Ukrainian nation as a whole than Yanukovych," he said, "although perhaps a bit worse for the Jewish community. Still, the difference for the Jews would be relatively insignificant, and if Yushchenko can bring Ukraine closer to democracy and Europe, I am ready for it to be a bit more complicated." Honest Jews have nothing to fear from honest government.

The second reason Jews are supporting Mr. Yanukovych is a fear of alleged anti-Semitism. There are two reasons for this apprehension. The first appears to be self-inflicted by some in the Yushchenko camp, although not the candidate himself. The other is manufactured by the Kuchma regime.

Despite the usual, bogus fears of pogroms by the American Jewish establishment, it would appear that Jews have prospered in independent Ukraine. Some believe they have done better than the average Ukrainian. Watching Jewish oligarchs and businessmen wheel and deal under President Kuchma, some Ukrainians resent what they believe is too much Jewish control. Articles portraying Jewish oligarchs as having illegally plundered much of Ukraine's natural resources have appeared in pro-Yushchenko nationalist newspapers. The articles were immediately labeled "anti-Semitic" by the Kuchma gang, which demanded the newspapers be shut down. Mr. Yushchenko condemned the articles but refused to support newspaper closure. That favorite Soviet calumny - "Ukrainian nationalism equals anti-Semitism" - was quickly attributed to Yushchenko loyalists.

Being Jewish and supporting Mr. Yushchenko can be costly. Mr. Chervonenko believes his support of the opposition resulted in government machinations against his business empire that cost him some "10 million." He "accuses the Kuchma regime of 'playing the anti-Semitic card' during the election campaign by surreptitiously encouraging anti-Semitic journals with links to the opposition to publish anti-Semitic materials that the regime can then self-righteously denounce." The tactic worked. Many Jews report a fondness for Mr. Yushchenko while fearing some of his supporters. A 20-year-old Jewish student in Odesa, for example, recently declared: "I like Yushchenko personally, but am fearful that if the opposition wins, anti-Semitism may come back with a vengeance."

What will happen to Jewish oligarchs should there be a Yushchenko administration? Not to worry. Most will probably survive. They will simply do what their predecessors have always done: quickly join the power structure, swearing all the while that they were with Mr. Yushchenko from the get go.

You gotta admire that kind of chutzpah!

Myron Kuropas's e-mail address is: [email protected].

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