Former Chief Rabbi of Moscow Pinchas Goldschmidt and Jewish organizations mourned the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny on Friday, and what it boded for the future of the country.
"This is a sad day for all those who believed in a future democratic Russia,” the rabbi said at the Munich Security Conference. “It is a dark reminder to all Europeans which regime lives next door."
Goldschmidt, also president of the Conference of European Rabbis, expressed his condolences to Navalny’s wife Yulia Navalnaya and their children.
The American Jewish Committee also offered condolences to Navalny’s family on Friday, as well as to the people of Russia. “Alexei Navalny may be dead, but we will continue to defend the ideals of democracy and freedom for which he stood,” the AJC wrote on social media.The Simon Wiesenthal Center simply wished that Navalny “rest in peace.”
The rabbi's own history with Putin's government
Navalny, 47, rose to prominence for his criticism of the ruling Russian regime and its corruption. In 2020, he was poisoned by a nerve agent, allegedly by the Kremlin, for his dissident activities. In 2021, he returned to Russia, and was soon jailed. On Friday it was reported by Russian authorities that Navalny had lost consciousness and died in prison.Goldschmidt had also ran afoul of the Kremlin during his tenure, being labeled a “foreign agent” for disseminating “false information” about the government and country.“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,” Goldschmidt said in 2023. “This is why I believe the best option for Russian Jews is to leave.”The rabbi left the country himself at the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.Zvika Klein contributed to this report.