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OF GOLDERS GREEN AND STOLEN GRAIN
(Originally posted April 29, 2026)
Two stories have energized debate in the Jewish world this week, stories which have helped expose the very different conditions that diasporic and Israeli Jewry live, both physically and epistemically.
The first we could call the "Stolen Grain Fiasco:" for the second time in less than a month, a Russian ship filled with stolen Ukrainian grain is attempting to disembark its cargo at the Port of Haifa.
This has caused a diplomatic crisis between Ukraine and Israel, one in which Ukraine has accused Israel of ignoring its overtures while trading in its stolen property with its enemy, and in which Israel has, in turn, has accused Ukraine of going through impromper channels and engaging in "Twitter diplomacy."
Beyond what my personal position is on the matter, which is nuanced but decidedly falls on the Ukrainian side, what has fascinated me most has been the divergence of reaction between diasporic and Israeli Jewry.
While the Israeli government has maintained its stubborn truculance, its population's reaction has been one ranging from puzzlement to outright disgust with respect to the state's behavior. I have witnessed figures spanning from the left to the far right criticize the choice of the government to alienate Ukraine and the world on the issue.
To give a noteworthy example, Tsvi Sukkot - a radical settler activist who sits inside the governing coalition for the Religious Zionist party - has said:
"The wheat incident with Ukraine is a moral disgrace... [Israelis have] for years demanded that the entire world act with justice even against other interests, we simply cannot choose the side of the bad guys."
To be sure, staunch Bibists and general hyperdefensive-types in Israel have pushed the government's line, but members of the governing coalition calling the issue a "moral disgrace" is demonstrative of the widespread internal dissent against the official Israeli position.
On the other hand, much - but not all, or even a majority - of diaspora Jewry has responded to the crisis with contempt for the Ukrainian position.
I have seen liberal erstwhile-supporters of Ukraine accuse Zelensky of "backstabbing" Israel (to the accusers' credit, Ukraine has softly-handled far greater offenders on the issue of surreptitious dealings with Russia, such as Turkey or the Arab states).
These "backstab" stories have often been accompanied by more extreme claims, such as absurd denials of Zelensky's Jewish parentage, theories about malign Ukrainian-Turkish-Qatari subterfuge, and relitigation of Jews' (admittedly abysmal) experiences in Ukraine - as though the ghosts of Khmelnytsky or Bandera figure into this conversation in some way.
While cooler heads largely prevail within the diaspora, and many Israelis have responded with vitriol and disdain, the difference in reaction between the anglophonic and Hebraic discursive spaces has been apparent to me, and noted by many others. The question of why is one I will answer through what occured in London yesterday.
During midday on April 29, in the predominatly Jewish area of Golders Green, London, a 45-year-old man identified as Essa Suleiman engaged in a targeted stabbing attack against two identifiably Jewish men.
Reactions were as to be expected: politicians quickly denounced the attacks in typical, hollow fashion - "this has no place here," and the like; antizionists have responded with trademark cynical soft-justifications of Israel as the "ultimate cause of antisemitic violence," with added criticisms of the police use-of-force in apprehending the subject (apparently, kicking someone who is holding onto a knife while wrestling with police is inhumane); and Jews across the diaspora responding with a mix of despondence at the continued onslaught and dismissive disdain at Western states' willingness to address the issue.
(Continued in comments)
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🚨 BREAKING: Israeli importer drops shipment of allegedly stolen Ukrainian grain, says PANORMITIS ship will have to find another destination to unload @DanielSchmil themarker.com/news/macroecon…
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