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Transcript/Script((PLAYBOOK SLUG: ISRAEL RUSSIA IMMIGRATION
HEADLINE: Ukraine War Sets Off Migration Wave of Russian Jews to Israel
TEASER: Many of those fleeing to the Jewish state are avoiding the Russian draft
PUBLISHED: 11/15/2022 at 8:30am
BYLINE: Linda Gradstein
DATELINE: Tel Aviv
VIDEOGRAPHER: Ricki Rosen, Agencies, Courtesy
PRODUCER:
SCRIPT EDITORS: LR, MAS
VIDEO SOURCES: VOA Original, AFP, Jewish Agency
PLATFORMS: WEB __ TV X RADIO _
TRT: 2:26
VID APPROVED BY: Reifenrath
TYPE: TVPKG
EDITOR NOTES: Web desk, please post camera credit for Ricki Rosen
((INTRO))
[[The Israeli so-called Law of Return says that anyone with one Jewish grandparent can immigrate to Israel and receive Israeli citizenship. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to draft 300,000 men to fight in the war against Ukraine has prompted thousands of Russians to move to Israel, with tens of thousands of others on the way. Linda Gradstein reports from Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv.]]
((NARRATOR))
Russian Jews Ilay Agaryshev and Olga Shpektorova had been thinking of moving to Israel with their two daughters for the last six years, and even started studying Hebrew in Moscow. But Russia’s invasion of Ukraine convinced them that it was time to leave now.
((Ilay Agaryshev, Russian Immigrant, MALE IN RUSSIAN – VOA))
“I am really against the war, and I don’t want to participate in it. Friends of friends of mine were drafted, and even died fighting.”
((Olga Shpektorova, Russian Immigrant, - FEMALE IN RUSSIAN - VOA))
“We debated for a long time about coming, but the situation in Russia really gave us a push. We’re a little tired now but ready for whatever comes next.”
((NARRATOR))
The Jewish Agency, which takes care of immigration and absorption of new immigrants to Israel, says that more than 30,000 Russians have arrived since Russia launched its war in Ukraine, and that the number of applications has accelerated since Putin announced the draft of 300,000 men into the Russian army.
[[RADIO VERSION: History professor Jonathan Dekel-Chen specializes in Soviet and East European Jewry studies at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.]]
((Jonathan Dekel-Chen, Hebrew University of Jerusalem – IN ENGLISH - VOA))
((Mandatory cg: Zoom))
“I think this mini wave of immigration has of course been ignited by the orders of Putin and his government to begin the conscription, some might say forced conscription, of reservists and others.”
((Mandatory cg: Jewish Agency))
((NARRATOR))
Israeli politician Natan Sharansky, a former Soviet dissident who spent nine years in Soviet prisons because of his efforts to emigrate to Israel, says that the exodus of Russians with Jewish family connections is more generally related to Putin’s autocratic restrictions on Russian society.
((Natan Sharansky, Israeli Politician and Former Soviet Dissident, IN ENGLISH - VOA)) ((Mandatory cg: Zoom))
“It started from the moment that Putin put some restrictions on freedom of expression, on freedom of organizations, on freedom of communication with other people abroad and maybe most important, freedom of free discussion and expressing different views. That’s something that is very frightening especially to the intelligentsia.”
((NARRATOR))
Many Russians are researching their genealogy in the Russian national archives to find a Jewish grandparent, which would make them eligible to immigrate to Israel under Israel’s Law of Return. Sharansky says about 600,000 Russians have this Jewish family connection.
((Linda Gradstein, for VOA News, Ben Gurion Airport, Israel))
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
NetworkVOA
Location (dateline)Tel Aviv
BylineLinda Gradstein
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
