Major US Jewish groups bemoan Ukraine suffering, don’t mention Russia

Conference of Presidents releases carefully worded statement about Ukrainian humanitarian crisis, no blame attributed to Russia.

By World Israel News Staff

A prominent umbrella group representing 50 well-established American Jewish organizations decried the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Ukraine on Wednesday but refrained from singling out Russia in the statement.

The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations said that they “mourn the many victims of this unnecessary and deadly conflict.

“We urge a swift and peaceful lasting resolution to the crisis,” the statement said, adding that it was providing aid on the ground.

Aside from a brief passage urging “all parties, and particularly the Russian Federation, to refrain from historical revisionism that trivializes and distorts the reality of the Holocaust,” the statement appeared to follow in the footsteps of Israeli government policy by not blaming Russia for the current military clash.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has cited “de-Nazification” of Ukraine as one of the reasons for the incursion.

Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky, who is Jewish, has repeatedly made comparisons between Russia and Nazi Germany.

In a speech on Wednesday, Zelensky insinuated that Putin’s alleged plan to “erase” Ukraine was similar to Nazi Germany’s goal of annihilating Jews. Therefore, he said, Jews around the world have a special responsibility to speak up against Russian military action in Ukraine.

A widely disseminated Ukrainian government claim that Russian air strikes had damaged the Babyn Yar memorial, which commemorates the site where 33,000 Jews were massacred by Ukrainians during World War II, was later found to be false.

Earlier this week, Ukraine’s ambassador to Israel slammed the Jewish state for refusing to unquestioningly admit all Ukrainian nationals attempting to enter Israel.

The envoy added that because some Ukranians saved their Jewish neighbors during the Holocaust, Israel should return the favor and give blanket refugee status to Ukrainians.

He also complained that Israel had not sent Ukraine the military technology and weapons it had requested.