26 Venezuelan Jews flee chaos, immigrate to Israel
Basic goods and services are being disrupted by economic malfunction in country amid daily battles between police and youth
RIO DE JANEIRO — Twenty-six Jews from Venezuela have immigrated to Israel this week, fleeing the South American country’s political, social and economic unrest.
After several years of discontent with the far-left government under President Nicolas Maduro and his late predecessor and political godfather Hugo Chavez, Venezuela has been racked by protests that began in April against Maduro’s government.
“The situation is very hard,” Michal Levy, 35, told The Jerusalem Post upon arriving in Israel on Wednesday with her three children. “It’s hard to get basic things like bread and flour,” Levy said, adding that she has been afraid to leave her house due to riots and kidnappings.
While the Venezuelan government is set to vote Sunday to establish a body to rewrite the constitution, basic goods and services have been disrupted by economic malfunction and social stability has been disintegrating in almost daily running battles between police and youths in the streets.
In May, President Maduro likened the harassment of his country’s government officials and their families living abroad to the treatment of Jews under the Nazis. He also said that opposition rallies in Caracas were reminiscent of rallies during the rise of Nazism and fascism in pre-World War II Europe.
“We are the new Jews of the 21st century that Hitler pursued,” Maduro said. “We don’t carry the yellow Star of David, we carry red hearts that are filled with desire to fight for human dignity. And we are going to defeat them, these 21st century Nazis.”
???????? 26 Jews from Venezuela immigrated to Israel, part of a general surge in emigration from the country due to its political, economic crisis pic.twitter.com/c4Mvvgq7PO
— Behind The News (@Behind__News) July 26, 2017
In March, Venezuela’s foreign minister, Delcy Rodriguez, expressed to his country’s chief rabbi, Isaac Cohen, “the desire to establish full relations with the State of Israel” eight years after the South American nation expelled its Israeli ambassador.
One month before, Maduro welcomed Cohen and members of the country’s umbrella Jewish organization, the Confederacion de Asociaciones Israelitas de Venezuela, at the governmental palace to strengthen cooperation that over the years has faced roadblocks.
“A good day of dialog for peace. Boosting the co-existence and the dialog of civilizations, of religions to consolidate our nation,” Maduro tweeted then.
A week before that, the United States had barred Venezuela’s vice president, Tareck El Aissami, from entering the US, accusing him of playing a major role in international drug trafficking. El Aissami also has been accused of anti-Semitism and ties to Iran and the terrorist group Hezbollah.
Anti-Semitic rhetoric was often employed by Chavez to deflect criticism from the country’s deep financial crisis and charges of corruption.
Venezuela is home to some 9,000 Jews, down from about 25,000 in 1999. Many Jews left, mainly for Florida and Israel.
