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Powerful Broadway Play Examines Jewish Oligarch Who Backed Putin, Regretted It
In one telling scene in the Broadway show Patriots, Jewish actor Michael Stuhlbarg, who plays oligarch Boris Berezovsky, thinks Vladimir Putin would be a good choice to be the next Russian leader because he is a “nobody” who once drove a taxi. In addition, when he offered Putin a bribe in the form of a Mercedes, Putin refused.
So how do we explain that Putin later demanded the oligarchs pay him extravagant sums of money? We know, of course, that people change once they are given power, and there is no certain way to know how anyone will react.
Stuhlbarg should win the Tony Award for Best Actor for his incredible performance. We even see him as a child studying math with his Jewish teacher, played with great flare by Jewish actor Ronald Guttman. The professor warns him not to go away from academia, but Berezovsky doesn’t listen; in one scene, they wish each other a “Shana Tova” marking the Jewish New Year.
Stuhlbarg is fantastic as a man who thinks he is in control, even after surviving an assassination attempt. There is also the fascinating relationship between another Jewish oligarch, Roman Abramovich, played by an excellent Luke Thallon, who has some care for Berezovsky, but realizes his bread is better buttered by being loyal to Putin.
As the notorious Russian leader, the first few moments we see Will Keen play Putin are off-putting, because he has a strong British accent. Still, he looks a bit like Putin and his body language is so strong that halfway into the show, you believe his performance.
I asked a Russian audience member what she thought of this, and she said: “we prefer no accent to a bad accent.”
In seeing Putin as dangerous, Berezovsky eventually instructs the anchor at his television station to blast Putin, but as a result, he has to flee to England. The situation becomes more tenuous when his chief ally, Alexander Litvinenko, played by Alex Hurt, is killed by a strange poison.
Stuhlbarg’s performance is astoundingly good, depicting the complex contradictions of a man that could have the wisdom to become greatly affluent, but also could underestimate Putin and assume he would only do as the oligarchs wanted.
Putin was in the KGB and might have played Berezovsky, but either way, it’s fascinating to realize that we never know how a few decisions will alter the world and make someone a leader of a country. The play shows an often-drunk Boris Yeltsin (Paul Kynman) saying goodbye in a TV address as he leaves office, and the reigns are handed to Putin.
Stuhlbarg and Keen are a dynamic duo, and Stuhlbarg’s scenes with Thallon are also compelling, showing the financial battle between Berezovsky and Abramovich. A British court ruled against Berezovsky, who sued Abramovich, and some say he may have committed suicide in depression while others believe he was murdered.
Written by Peter Morgan and directed by Rupert Goold, there is a chilling effect while watching the show, even though we know what will happen.
The second half is more intense than the first, and it is an interesting journey in which Berezovsky starts at the top and ends up at the bottom. Should he be blamed for ushering Putin in and recommending him to Yeltsin? Should he be praised for fighting against Putin when he saw who he became? It’s hard to say. But the play does well to show that people work under certain beliefs, and it takes a lot for them to do an about face.
The play runs a few more weeks until June 23, and I highly recommend it. It is a cautionary tale about the nature of ambition and sacrifice. Without Berezovsky, would Putin have risen to power? Possibly not but again, things are hard to know. Could there have been an even worse leader if someone else was selected? It seems hard to imagine with the Russia invasion of Ukraine and fears of a nuclear war, but things can often be worse than we know.
The author is a writer based in New York.
The post Powerful Broadway Play Examines Jewish Oligarch Who Backed Putin, Regretted It first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israel’s Supreme Court Orders Improved Food for Security Prisoners
Israel’s Supreme Court. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.
i24 News – Israel’s Supreme Court on Sunday instructed the Prison Service (Shabas) to guarantee adequate food supplies for security prisoners, ruling that current conditions fall short of minimum legal standards. The decision followed an appeal filed by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel.
In a 2–1 ruling, the court found that the food situation posed “a risk of non-compliance with legal standards.” Justice Dafna Barak-Erez stressed that the matter concerned “basic conditions necessary for survival, as required by law,” not comfort or privilege. Justice Ofer Grosskopf agreed, noting the state had not shown the policy was consistently applied to all inmates.
Justice David Mintz dissented, maintaining that the existing policy already met legal requirements.
The court underscored that Israel’s legal obligations remain binding, even in light of the ongoing hostage crisis in Gaza and the fact that many of the prisoners include Hamas members involved in the October 7, 2023 attack.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir condemned the ruling, arguing that while hostages in Gaza lack protection, “terrorist murderers, kidnappers, and rapists in prison” benefit from the Court’s intervention. He added that prisoners would continue receiving only the minimum conditions required by law.
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Ukrainian Government Building Set Ablaze in Record Russian Airstrike
Illustrative. More damage caused by the Russian drone that hit the Perlina school in Kyiv, Ukraine, Oct. 30, 2024. Photo: Jewish community JCC in Kyiv, Kyiv municipality, and Yan Dobronosov
i24 News – The Ukrainian government’s main building in Kyiv was hit overnight Saturday by Russian airstrikes for the first time since the war, igniting a fire in the building, authorities said. Firefighters are working to put out the flames.
“The government building was damaged by an enemy attack — the roof and upper floors,” Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Sviridenko said. The blaze is is burning in the area of the office of the prime minister.
Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched a total of 805 drones and 13 missiles overnight on Ukraine — a record number since the start of the war.
Also as a result of the strike, a baby and a young woman were killed after a nine-story residential building was hit in the Svyatoshynsky district, also in Kyiv. Rescuers are still looking for a third body, authorities said. A woman was also reported killed in the strike in Novopavlivka village.
“The world must respond to this destruction not only with words, but also with actions. We need to increase sanctions pressure – primarily against Russian oil and gas. We need new restrictions that will hit the Kremlin’s military machine. And most importantly, Ukraine needs weapons. Something that will stop the terror and prevent Russia from trying to kill Ukrainians every day,” wrote Sviridenko after the attack.
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‘Trump’s Legacy Crumbles’: Israelis Call on US President to End Gaza War
Israeli protestors take part in a rally demanding the immediate release of the hostages kidnapped during the deadly October 7, 2023 attack on Israel by Hamas, and the end of war in Gaza, in Jerusalem September 6, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
Thousands of Israelis rallied in Tel Aviv on Saturday night, issuing direct appeals to US President Donald Trump to force an end to the Gaza war and secure the release of the hostages.
Protesters packed a public square outside the military headquarters, waving Israeli flags and holding placards with images of the hostages. Some carried signs, including one that read: ‘Trump’s legacy crumbles as the Gaza war persists.’
Another said: “PRESIDENT TRUMP, SAVE THE HOSTAGES NOW!”
“We think that Trump is the only man in the world who has authority over Bibi, that can force Bibi to do this,” said Tel Aviv resident Boaz, 40, referring to the Israeli prime minister.
There is growing despair among many Israelis at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who has ordered the military to capture a major urban center where hostages may be held.
Families of the hostages and their supporters fear the assault on Gaza City could endanger their loved ones, a concern the military leadership shares, according to Israeli officials.
Orna Neutra, the mother of an Israeli soldier who was killed on October 7, 2023 and whose body is being held in Gaza by militants, accused the government of abandoning its citizens.
“We truly hope that the United States will push both sides to finally reach a comprehensive deal that will bring them home,” she told the rally. Her son, Omer, is also American.
Tel Aviv has witnessed weekly demonstrations that have grown in size, with protesters demanding that the government secure a ceasefire with Hamas to obtain the release of hostages. Organizers said Saturday night’s rally was attended by tens of thousands. A large demonstration was also held in Jerusalem.
There are 48 hostages held in Gaza. Israeli officials believe that around 20 are still alive. Palestinian terrorists abducted 251 people from Israel on October 7, 2023, when Hamas led its attack. Most of the hostages who have been released were freed after indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas.
NO PURPOSE
Trump had pledged a swift end to the war in Gaza during his presidential campaign, but nearly eight months into his second term, a resolution has remained elusive. On Friday, he said that Washington was engaged in “very deep” negotiations with Hamas.
Israeli forces have carried out heavy strikes on the suburbs of Gaza City, where, according to a global hunger monitor, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are facing famine. Israeli officials acknowledge that hunger exists in Gaza but deny that the territory is facing famine. On Saturday, the military warned civilians in Gaza City to leave and move to southern Gaza.
There are hundreds of thousands of Palestinians sheltering in the city that was home to around a million before the war.
A video released by Hamas on Friday featured Israeli hostage Guy Gilboa-Dalal, 24, saying that he was being held in Gaza City and feared being killed by the military’s assault on the city. Rights groups have condemned such videos of hostages as inhumane. Israel says that it is psychological warfare.
The war has become unpopular among some segments of Israeli society, and opinion polls show that most Israelis want Netanyahu’s right-wing government to negotiate a permanent ceasefire with Hamas that secures the release of the hostages.
“The war has no purpose at all, except for violence and death,” said Boaz from Tel Aviv. Adam, 48, said it had become obvious that soldiers were being sent to war for “nothing.”
Tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli military since it launched its retaliatory war after Hamas fighters attacked Israel from Gaza in October 2023. Around 1,200 people were killed in that attack on southern Israel.
The terrorist group, which has ruled Gaza for nearly two decades but today controls only parts of the enclave, on Saturday once again said that it would release all hostages if Israel agreed to end the war and withdraw its forces from Gaza.
Netanyahu is pushing for an all-or-nothing deal that would see all of the hostages released at once and Hamas surrendering.
The prime minister has said Gaza City is a Hamas stronghold and capturing it is necessary to defeat the Palestinian militant group, whose October 2023 attack on Israel led to the war.
Hamas has acknowledged it would no longer govern Gaza once the war ends but has refused to discuss laying down its weapons.