MOSCOW (AP) — Russia's chief rabbi urged President Vladimir Putin to do more to combat rising anti-Semitism in this country.
In a televised meeting March 3 at Putin's residence outside Moscow, Rabbi Berel Lazar thanked the Russian leader for acknowledging the problem when he attended ceremonies in January marking the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp.
But the Jewish religious leader said that the government needed to take concrete steps to confront anti-Semitism and xenophobia.
"I would like to thank you for what you said during your visit to Poland about the growth of anti-Semitism in the country," Lazar said. "I would like to ask you to take real measures to combat anti-Semitism and interethnic hatred which is spreading across the world, including in Russia."
Putin promised to make the issue a central priority, although he linked it to wider problems of intolerance.
"The authorities, the government and president will always keep in their sights the fight against anti-Semitism, and any other forms of extremism, xenophobia, including anti-Russian sentiment," Putin said.