Russian President Vladimir Putin speculated that Jews or other minorities might have been behind alleged attempts to interfere in the 2016 US presidential election. In an interview with NBC News, Putin denied US intelligence charges that he orchestrated interference in the elections. Rather, he speculated regarding the perpetrators that, “Maybe they’re not even Russians. Maybe they’re Ukrainians, Tatars, Jews, just with Russian citizenship. Even that needs to be checked. Maybe they have dual citizenship.”
In a tweet, the American Jewish Committee expressed concern that President Putin’s remarks were “eerily reminiscent of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion” and requested that he “clarify his comments at the earliest opportunity.”
Israeli Knesset member Ksenia Svetlova also expressed concern, tweeting “We r quite familiar with the oldies ‘Maybe Jews run the world, maybe Jews use blood for their rituals, maybe Jews had slaughtered Jews in Poland’. Now comes the latest hit ‘maybe Jews meddled in US elections’. Our government has to condemn strongly this statement #putin #jews”
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