Israeli media: Liberman to meet with anti-Semitic dictator

Israeli foreign minister is to pay an official visit to Minsk and meet with Lukashenka next Wednesday. Israeli newspapers Alyaksandr Lukashenka is dubbed the “last dictator in Europe” by the West.

According to Haaretz, an Israeli newspaper, shortly before the visit, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Israel tried to organize a meeting between the foreign minister and the Belarusian ruler. The newspaper writes Lukashenka is called the “last dictator in Europe” in the West, and his anti-Semitic remarks last year caused certain tension in the relations between Israel and Belarus, NEWSru.co.il writes.

Avigdor Liberman will go to Minsk after his two-day visit to Moscow. The Israeli foreign minister is to meet with his Belarusian colleague, representatives of the security service and heads of the Jewish community. It will be his second visit to Belarus after the last parliamentary elections. He had his first visit in February, some days after the elections. The first visit was private, but this time Liberman will arrive in Minsk as an official representative.

Haaretz also notes Liberman has paid often visit to Belarus before. It was he who insisted on allocating resources to open the Embassy of Israel in Minsk.

The Israeli edition tells its readers about Belarus and its political leader focusing on relations of the former Soviet republic with Sudan, Iraq, and Iran that became a reason for political isolation of the country by the US and the European Union. The article also notes Minsk-EU relations have significantly improved over the last months, but the US still regards Belarus as a pariah state.

Haaretz also reminds about an emotional remark Lukashenka made last year causing some tension between Israel and Belarus. In particular, the “anti-Semitic dictator” said “the Jews have turned Babruisk into a pig-house”. The Israeli ambassador was recalled to Jerusalem for consultations. Some weeks later, Lukashenka sent a special envoy to apologize for his scandalous statement and the conflict was settled, and the ambassador of Israel returned to Minsk.

At the same time the press reports about destruction of synagogues in Belarus. The local authorities destroyed a wooden synagogue in Lyuban in spite of protests of local residents. Yakau Hutman, Head of the World Association of Belarusian Jews, called on Alyaksandr Lukashenka to stop deconstructing a synagogue built in the beginning of the XX century in Lyuban (the Minsk region). But in spite of all efforts, the synagogue was destroyed.