Money Spats Among the Rich

For several days after the news of Bank Hapoalim money laundering I wondered how could an Israeli bank be caught doing wrong, so big, so loudly, so publicly. Glaring criminal activity, specifically in regard to Jewish money laundering, is nigh unheard of. Who pointed the finger at Israel's banking? Six Israeli banks were fined and/or issued warnings a year ago for violating Prohibition on Money Laundering Law. But Jewish banking crimes in the headlines as notably as the current allegations? With the Zionist-Christo cabal in Tel-DC-Aviv, how did this scam every come to light? Then I remembered that oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky was Jewish and out of favor with Putin's soul. Khodorkovsky and Yukos, Khodorkovsky Bank MENATEP. Aha. The Russians have to be behind the light shining on this scandal, which is spreading.

Some of the same names connected to Yukos are in the Bank Hapoalim investigation, i.e. self-exiled media mogul Vladimir Gusinsky and Yukos co-owner Leonid Nevzlin, both of whom may be questioned in the investigation of what could be the biggest money-laundering scandal in Israel's history. Moscow also issued a murder warrant for Nevzlin. All these could be's and may be's signal that if these billionaires tap dance correctly their problems could maybe all go away. Looks like Khodorkovsky would be the sacrificial goat and spend his days in Siberia with what used to be his oil.

But hang on a minute, is Condi in there fighting for Mikey?, issuing vague statements as "Our goal has been to continue to talk to the Russians about this and to be clear that the deepening of relations for which we all hope, really would only take place on the basis of common values." What the hell does that mean? Let my Mikhail go or we won't play?

But wait, maybe the scandal is a plot by Jewish banking moguls to hamper Putin's Russia? No, that can't be because March 10 Moscow released a statement saying they "...did not expect that a claim the Tel Aviv branch of the largest Israeli bank, Hapoalim, has been involved in money laundering would have any serious effect on the Russian banking business in Israel."

As usual and expected, the Jewish press has cited Khodorkovsky's arrest and the grab of Yukos by the Russian State as anti-semitism. (A term more overused and worn out than playing the race card in the US). Khodorkovsky and other "Jewish oligarchs" were throwing millions at any liberal non-Putin political party, particularly the Communist party. They became Putin's opponents, rivals. Their travails may have more to do with politics than ethnicity. But oppressing political opponents doesn't conjure up the same emotional boogymen as anti-semitism. Nevermind that in 2003 Russia's two leading Jewish groups, the Chabad-Lubavitch-dominated Federation of Russian Jews,and Russian Jewish Congress both voiced support of the arrest of Khodorkovsky. The Jewish press claims the leaders of the two groups are going along to get along and fear of losing their roles in the corridors of Russian power. (Similar fear can be seen in the Democrats of the US congress.)

But, Jewish pundits continue to shill that the Kremlin is rekindling anti-Jewish sentiments in Russia. Authority figures point to the recent prosecutorial team's use of the term "economic crimes" in regard to Khodorkovsky, which according to them represents historically one of the "special" charges reserved for Jews. Many prominent Jews on the other hand agree that Putin is not anti-semitic. The latest head of the Russian Jewish Congress is even more adamant with his admiration of Putin. Apparently the accusation of "anti-semitic" doesn't frighten the Kremlin the way it does D.C.