Israel’s ambassador to Moscow gave new details Wednesday of the weekend riot at an airport in southern Russia when a flight from Tel Aviv landed there, saying some of the passengers had to hide in the terminal before being flown by helicopter to safety. Ambassador Alexander Ben Zvi blamed Sunday night’s unrest on extremist elements resulting from “indoctrination” in the mostly Muslim republic of Dagestan. But he said that overall, there is no antisemitism “on an organised level” in Russia. He added, though, that authorities should take the incident seriously so such actions don’t spread.
“Of course, there has always been, is and will be antisemitism on the everyday level. The important thing is that it doesn’t develop into what we saw in Makhachkala,” Ben Zvi told The Associated Press in an online interview from Moscow. “If all this is under control, I think there will be no problems.”
The angry mob stormed the airport in Makhachkala, the capital city of Dagestan, when the flight from Israel landed there. Hundreds of men, some carrying banners with antisemitic slogans, roamed the building and rushed onto the tarmac looking for Israeli passengers. It took the authorities several hours to disperse the mob, which threw stones at police.
At least 20 people, both police and civilians, were injured and more than 80 were detained. Russia’s Investigative Committee opened a probe on the charges of organising mass unrest.