Conference of Presidents laments tragedy in Ukraine, avoids faulting Russia for it

Umbrella body representing 50 US Jewish groups urges Moscow against ‘historical revisionism that trivializes and distorts the reality of the Holocaust’

By ToI Staff 3 March 2022, 8:14 am

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Passengers rush to board a train leaving to Slovakia from the Lviv railway station, in Lviv, west Ukraine, March 2, 2022. (Felipe Dana/AP)

The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations issued a statement on Wednesday expressing outrage over the “humanitarian tragedy” unfolding in Ukraine, while avoiding casting blame on Russia.

“We mourn the many victims of this unnecessary and deadly conflict. We urge a swift and peaceful lasting resolution to the crisis,” the umbrella body representing 50 US Jewish groups said, adding that it is engaged in efforts to bring humanitarian assistance to the affected populations.

The conference commended the countries that have opened their borders to Ukrainian refugees and encouraged the US to do the same.

It also called for historical sites such as Kyiv’s Babyn Yar Massacre memorial site to be protected, but avoided naming Russia as the country responsible for strikes on those areas. A missile strike this week hit near the memorial site.

“We encourage all parties, and particularly the Russian Federation, to refrain from historical revisionism that trivializes and distorts the reality of the Holocaust,” the conference said, in the statement’s only mention of Russia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who last week ordered his forces to invade Ukraine, has claimed that part of his aim is to “de-Nazify” the country.

Firefighters walk among damages after the shelling by Russian forces of Constitution Square in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-biggest city, on March 2, 2022. (Sergey BOBOK / AFP)

The cautious Conference of Presidents approach is similar to one taken by Israel — which on Tuesday drew reprove from a European diplomat who accused Jerusalem of falling out of step with Western nations’ criticism of Russia.

“Israel can’t decide not to be on the side of the European countries and the United States,” said the EU diplomat, who spoke over the phone with The Times of Israel on condition of anonymity.

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said earlier Tuesday that Israel was seeking to “help quietly” while maintaining its own strategic interests, referencing the need to maintain working relations with Russia, which controls the airspace over Syria where Israel operates to target Iranian proxies.

While Israel has expressed its support for the Ukrainian people and has sent a shipment of 100 tons of humanitarian aid, Bennett has avoided calling out Putin by name and refused a Ukrainian request for military equipment. Foreign Minister Yair Lapid avoided condemning Russia by name for the bombing of the Babyn Yar memorial complex in Kyiv, site of the massacre of tens of thousands of Jews by Nazis during World War II.

However, on Wednesday Israel backed a United Nations General Assembly resolution condemning Russia, and Lapid has criticized Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as a “serious violation of the international order.”

Israel has worked to evacuate its citizens to countries neighboring Ukraine, as well as facilitate the immigration of Ukraine Jews to Israel, hundreds of whom are set to arrive in Tel Aviv next week.