It is simply astounding to see over and over again how various countries, by persecuting, driving out and killing Jews, have caused themselves irreparable losses.
Yesterday, I returned with my crew from Israel, where we are making a documentary about the country, and so far we have only spent two weeks there, so of course it's impossible to draw any serious conclusions yet. But I must say that so far my strongest impression is the amount of Russian. You can hear it everywhere, you sometimes get the feeling that you don't even know what country you're in, and it doesn't matter where you are, at the market or the Knesset – the parliament of the state of Israel.
Judge for yourself – Avigdor Liberman, the foreign minister, the speaker of parliament Yuly Edelshtein, the head of the committee for international affairs and defense Zezv Elkin, the general director of the party “Israel Our Home” Faina Kirshenbaum. I interviewed all of them in Russian.
A few months ago, when I interviewed the Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu, I asked him: “What did it mean for Israel when over a million repatriates arrived from the USSR, and then from the Russian Federation, in the late '80s to the early '90”. He replied: “Thanks to them, Israel rose to a entirely new level.” And I thought: that means that this gain for Israel is a loss for Russia.
Why did they leave? Let's remember the joke about the important Soviet scientist, a Jew by nationality, who applied to leave the country. A high-ranking official summoned him and asked:
“Why are you leaving? Problems with work?”
“No, no problems at all.”
“Maybe your salary is too low?”
“No, I'm paid very well.”
“Maybe your children are unhappy?”
“My children are fine.”
“Perhaps there's something wrong with your apartment?”
“No, I have a wonderful apartment.”
“What's the problem then, you damn kike?”
