Israel Blames Lukashenko; Reasons Revealed

The Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz has described the statements made by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko regarding Jewish individuals involved in corruption within the country as unacceptable, outrageous, and antisemitic. This was reported by the JNS agency.

Katz stated that in this regard, Yuval Fuchs, head of the Eurasian Bureau of the Israeli Foreign Ministry, submitted a protest note to the Belarusian Ambassador to Israel, Yevgeny Vorobyev.

During a government meeting on June 14, Lukashenko discussed recent corruption scandals in the country. He indicated that more than half of the three dozen officials held accountable were Jewish.

“Excuse me, I am not antisemitic, but more than half of them are Jewish. Does this mean that they hold a special, privileged position in our country, that they steal and do not think about their future? Before the law, everyone is equal—Jews, Belarusians, Ukrainians, Russians, and Poles,” the agency quotes Lukashenko.

Belarusian officials have not commented on the situation.