Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt left Russia during the early days of the Ukraine invasion, but opposing the invasion has Russia declaring him a "foreign agent."
Goldschmidt, 59, now in Israel after being a Moscow rabbi from 1993 until 2022, is warning Russian Jews to get out like he did "before it's too late."
"Russia has changed its face," Goldschmidt told The Jerusalem Post in a statement. "I call on the Jewish community to leave the country before it is too late."
The statement echoes his past remarks but comes as Russia has declared him a "foreign agent" for having opposed Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine.
"Goldschmidt disseminated false information about the decisions made by public authorities of the Russian Federation and their policies," the Russian Justice Ministry announced Friday, according to the report. "He opposed the special military operation in Ukraine."
Goldschmidt claims he is the first religious leader to be declared a foreign agent by Russia.
"Proud to be on the right side of history and to join a distinguished list of people who oppose an unjustified operation and the harming of innocents," Goldschmidt told the Post.
"For 30 years, I have nurtured and preserved the Jewish community in Moscow; no order will prevent me from doing so even now."
Goldschmidt's stance against Russia since the war has been consistent.
"We're seeing rising antisemitism while Russia is going back to a new kind of Soviet Union, and step by step the Iron Curtain is coming down again," he said in January, according to the report. "This is why I believe the best option for Russian Jews is to leave.
"When we look back over Russian history, whenever the political system was in danger you saw the government trying to redirect the anger and discontent of the masses towards the Jewish community."
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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