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Bulgaria: Israel’s Friend That You Didn’t Know About
Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. Photo: Pexels.
In these challenging times, Bulgaria remains a key strategic partner for Israel in southeastern Europe. In July 2023, President Rumen Radev emphasized this by stating, “There exists a genuine sense of friendship and understanding between the peoples of the two countries based on deep cultural and historical ties, active partnership and mutual trust.”
Bulgaria has a history of low antisemitism, and has consistently supported the Jewish people. Its saving of the Bulgarian Jews during World War II was an unprecedented act that sealed the bond between Bulgaria and the Jewish people for eternity. At the time, Bulgarian politicians from across the political spectrum, members of Parliament led by Dimitar Peshev, the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, writers, lawyers, doctors, artists, journalists, and many other prominent public figures stood up for their fellow Jewish citizens and opposed the government’s plan to deport them.
As a result, all of Bulgaria’s pre-war Jewish community who lived within the country’s borders — nearly 50,000 Jews — remained alive. A total of 11,343 Jews living in Bulgarian-occupied territories in Macedonia and Thrace were deported to concentration camps, with the participation of Bulgarian authorities.
After 1948, most Bulgarian Jews left Soviet-allied Bulgaria and immigrated to Israel. According to the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics, Bulgarian Jews constituted 5% of all new immigrants in the 1948-1954 period. They created a living bridge between Bulgaria and Israel that has lasted for decades and should continue for many years to come.
Following the October 7, 2023 terrorist atrocities, Bulgaria demonstrated strong institutional support for Israel. The government condemned Hamas’s terrorist attack and expressed unwavering support for Israel. The National Assembly building was illuminated with the colors of the Israeli flag as a sign of solidarity. Bulgaria granted permission to Israeli citizens to fly to Israel and use the same planes to return without any restrictions, and at no additional cost. A “Prayer for Peace” was held at Sofia Central Synagogue that was attended by the president, the chairman of the National Assembly, and other high-ranking officials, along with leaders and members of all religious faiths, ruling majority members, and ambassadors.
In October 2023, the National Assembly approved a strong declaration in support of Israel, with no opposing votes. In November, Bulgarian Prime Minister Nikolai Denkov met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog in Jerusalem, reaffirming Bulgaria’s full support for Israel and belief in Israel’s right to self-defense. A group of Bulgarian MPs visited Kfar Aza, Sderot, and the Shura military base to witness the aftermath of the October 7 massacre firsthand.
Bulgaria continued to stand by Israel in the following months. Pro-Palestinian rallies were banned by the authorities due to their indirect support for the terrorist organization Hamas. As antisemitism surged in the rest of Europe in the wake of October 7, its manifestations in Bulgaria have been limited to occasional hate speech on social media. Bulgarian universities have adhered to sound academic practices and provided a platform for Israeli voices to be heard.
On April 5, 2024, the UN Human Rights Council adopted an anti-Israel resolution condemning Israel for the war in Gaza, opposing its right to defend itself, and demanding that it be subjected to an arms embargo. Bulgaria was one of six countries, including the United States and Germany, that voted against the resolution. This was a strong demonstration that Bulgaria continues to be one of Israel’s most dependable global partners.
Economic and trade relations
Bulgaria and Israel cooperate in many fields, including politics, economics, strategic issues, culture, innovation, cybersecurity, energy, healthcare, and environmental protection. Many Israeli companies have offices in Bulgaria.
Bulgarian-Israeli trade and economic relations are founded on a robust bilateral legal framework established in the 1990s and strengthened by agreements such as the 2009 Economic Cooperation Agreement, the 2012 Agreement for Bilateral Cooperation in Industrial Research and Development, and the 2012 Memorandum of Understanding between the Israeli Ministry of Defense and the Bulgarian Ministry of Economy, Energy, and Tourism, regarding defense industry cooperation. Israel recently ratified the Agreement for Cooperation in the Field of Water, which is expected to take effect immediately.
In recent years, bilateral trade has grown and diversified. In 2022, Israeli exports to Bulgaria totaled $62.8 million, including copper scrap, non-woven fabrics, insecticides, fungicides, herbicides, polymers, plastic elements, and fertilizers. In the same year, Israel imported $320 million worth of goods from Bulgaria, including petroleum oils, wheat, rye, barley, starch, plastic elements, passenger cars, and chemical elements. By the end of 2023, Israeli investments in Bulgaria amounted to €298.1 million, according to the Bulgarian National Bank.
Tourism
Tourism traditions between Bulgaria and Israel are longstanding. Israelis are warmly welcomed in Bulgaria, and the number of Israeli tourists has been steadily increasing. This positive trend was unaffected by Hezbollah’s terrorist attack on Israelis on July 18, 2012, at Burgas Airport in Sarafovo.
In 2022, more than 174,000 Israeli tourists visited Bulgaria compared to 54,342 the previous year, according to the Israeli Ministry of Tourism. Direct flights between Tel Aviv and Sofia are operated by six companies, varying by season. Israelis are drawn to Bulgaria’s natural beauty, rich history, warm hospitality, and cuisine. Popular destinations for Israeli tourists include Sofia, Nessebar, Varna, Bansko, Samokov, Borovets and Plovdiv. At the same time, Israel is a favored destination for pilgrims from Christian-majority Bulgaria.
In January 2023, the tourism ministers of Bulgaria and Israel, Ilin Dimitrov and Haim Katz, respectively, signed an agreement in Sofia to enhance cooperation in specific tourism sectors, such as spa and wellness, adventure, cultural-historical, and religious tourism.
Why strong ties with Bulgaria are important
Bulgaria is an important ally for Israel in the Balkans, especially after the deterioration in Israeli-Turkish relations over the ongoing war in Gaza. In 2023, Bulgaria and Turkey celebrated the 100th anniversary of their diplomatic relations. They enjoy good neighborly relations and are NATO allies. Turkey is Bulgaria’s largest non-EU trading partner, with trade between the two countries exceeding €7 billion in 2022. Bilateral tourism is also significant. Bulgaria supports Turkey’s EU membership bid and is often referred to as “Turkey’s gateway to Europe.”
When regional and global challenges arise, Bulgaria and Turkey look to each other for mutual support. After Russia cut gas supplies to EU nations via Ukraine, the two countries cooperated to ensure the energy security of southeastern Europe, with Turkey playing a crucial role thanks to its LNG terminals. Bulgaria is in the middle of several EU energy corridors and has its own extensive network of gas pipelines. This positions Bulgaria as an important transit country for potential pipelines that could transport non-Russian gas to eastern as well as central Europe, which would help Europe reduce its dependency on Russia.
On May 2, Turkey’s trade ministry announced that it was freezing all trade with Israel due to the war and humanitarian crisis in Gaza. (Trade turnover between Israel and Turkey amounted to over $7 billion in 2023.) To bypass these restrictions and maintain the flow of Turkish goods to Israel, importers are considering routes through European countries like Bulgaria and Romania.
Bulgaria, a co-founder of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC), has been active in its development and regional cooperation efforts. Initiated by Turkey, BSEC has grown into a significant international organization that works to enhance regional economic integration. Bulgaria values BSEC’s economic cooperation, seeing it as vital for regional development with substantial trade and energy potential across two continents.
Since Bulgaria and Romania joined the EU in 2007, BSEC’s scope has expanded, integrating EU member states, strategic partners, candidate countries, and partner countries. Key priorities include energy and transport infrastructure, security, and the adoption of European democratic norms.
Bulgaria supports various strategic projects, including major pipelines and transport links, to enhance regional cooperation. Overall, BSEC has proven to be a successful framework for regional cooperation. Bulgaria remains dedicated to fostering synergy between BSEC and the EU, contributing to the region’s prosperity and stability.
Given these factors, Bulgaria could serve as a catalyst for the fostering of closer ties between Israel and BSEC member countries. It could also serve as a mediator between Israel and Turkey when those states are ready for a rapprochement. Additionally, Bulgaria could serve as a gateway to Israel for other Balkan countries, allowing them to replace Turkey’s significance for Israel in an assortment of sectors and strengthen their ties with Israel.
Prof. Efrat Aviv is a senior researcher at the BESA Center and an associate professor in the Department of History and at Bar-Ilan University. Dr. Petar Stoilov is a researcher at the University Center for Regional Studies and Analyses at Sofia University, “St. Kliment Ohridski”. A version of this article was originally published by The BESA Center.
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Israel Unveils Its Preemptive Capabilities
Lebanese side of the border with Israel, seen from Tyre, August 25, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Aziz Taher
JNS.org – The Israeli Air Force’s major preemptive strike on Sunday, launched a little before 5 a.m. against Hezbollah positions in Southern Lebanon, was a stinging surprise to the Iranian-backed terror army.
However, despite this important achievement, and the welcome activation of preemptive steps, it is important to remember that the fundamental threat to Israel’s north remains in place.
Both Hezbollah and its Iranian sponsor are likely conducting an extensive situation assessment to gauge the damage that Hezbollah sustained, and to plot their next move. Initial signs are that they wish to end this particular episode and regroup for the next stage of their war on Israel.
According to Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, Israel Defense Forces international spokesperson, the operation was a direct response to intelligence indicating that Hezbollah was preparing to launch an extensive missile and rocket attack on northern and central Israel.
The IDF has been closely monitoring Hezbollah and Iran attack capabilities, and remained on the highest state of alert in anticipation of an attack on Israel. For weeks, the Iranian-led Shi’ite radical axis has been threatening to respond to the assassinations of Hezbollah chief of staff Fuad Shukr in Beirut on July 30 and Hamas Political Bureau chief Ismael Haniyeh in Tehran on July 31.
This swift and decisive action by the IDF, involving around 100 fighter jets, targeted thousands of Hezbollah rocket launchers across more than 40 launch areas in southern Lebanon, thwarting what could have been a significant assault on Israel.
Hezbollah was still able to fire hundreds of rockets and unmanned aerial vehicles towards northern Israeli communities on Sunday, but most of its attack was headed off by the IAF’s preemptive move.
Hezbollah’s preparations involved embedding rocket launchers within villages and towns across Southern Lebanon, thereby increasing the risk of collateral damage during any retaliatory strikes.
The IDF, which called Sunday on Lebanese civilians to move away from Hezbollah’s areas of activities, carried out a remarkable operation that not only destroyed a sizeable number of launchers but also proved, at the operational and intelligence level, that Israel is viewing Hezbollah’s activities in real time and can respond quickly to intelligence warnings.
Hezbollah had been preparing to fire rockets and missiles at Israel, with some reports indicating that these were intended to target key strategic locations in central Israel, including security and military installations. Shoshani confirmed that most of Hezbollah’s planned attacks were intended to hit targets in northern Israel, and “some in central Israel.”
More than 7,000 projectiles
Shoshani highlighted that Hezbollah has fired more than 7,000 rockets, missiles and explosive UAVs at Israel since October 2023.
This is a reminder of the intolerable situation in northern Israel created by this Iranian proxy.
Taking advantage of Israel’s two-front conflict and the stretching of its military resources, Hezbollah has been able to turn an entire section of northern Israel a no-go zone for civilians for 10 months. Some 60,000 Israelis remain internally displaced.
For Sunday’s intended attack, it appears that Hezbollah was planning to fire a combination of precision-guided ballistic missiles, UAV swarms and unguided rockets at valuable targets in Israel, such as military targets in the heart of a central Israeli city.
According to the Alma Research and Education Center, Hezbollah has thousands of precision projectiles, including the Iranian-supplied Fateh 110 missiles that have a range of 350 kilometers and which, if fired from Southern Lebanon, can hit central Israel. Altogether, Hezbollah is believed to possess some 250,000 warheads, 150,000 of which are mortar rounds and 65,000 of which are rockets with ranges of up to 80 kilometers.
By demonstrating its willingness and ability to conduct large-scale operations preemptively, Israel sends a clear message to Hezbollah and its patrons in Tehran: Any significant imminent threat to Israeli civilians will be met with preventative force.
The question that remains is how Israel plans on restoring security to its north.
Hezbollah’s deep entrenchment in Southern Lebanon’s Shi’ite community, its conversion of some 200 southern Lebanese villages into bases of attack, and its ideological commitment to representing Iran’s Islamic Revolution all ensure that the threat will persist until Israel decides to deal with it strategically.
The international community also has a role to play in addressing the Iranian/Hezbollah’s jihadist war. Hezbollah and its Iranian patron threaten to drag Lebanon into a broader conflict, with devastating consequences for its civilian population.
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Nepotism or Normal?
The Titanic at the docks of Southampton. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.
JNS.org – Isn’t it ironic that in our own advanced, enlightened and progressive generation, more murder and mayhem is going on around the world than in ancient and primitive times? Chaos and anarchy reign while wars and terror hotspots dot the global landscape. Are sophisticated moderns really more vicious and violent than the cavemen of old? That’s for another discussion, but it is a sad irony indeed.
Alas, Cowboys and Indians and war movies have nothing on the TV news we watch on our screens daily. Just the other day, 38-year-old Gidon Peri was murdered by a Palestinian who attacked him with a hammer to his head.
Beyond the immediate danger zones lies the risk that we who may be somewhat removed from the battlefields may well become desensitized by the non-stop feed of terror, stabbings and massacres. Our brains are bombarded continuously with wars, murder and violence. There is a very real concern that the constancy of it may well leave us unmoved, inured and almost immunized to bloodshed. We see so much of it regularly that it becomes commonplace and “normal”; our feelings of compassion and sensitivity may be weakening.
We need to reaffirm our abhorrence of violence. We remain a peace-loving people, despite the IDF’s military prowess and our heroic soldiers’ courageous tenacity and commitment to protecting our land and its people.
Over 3,000 years ago, the Jews taught the world about the sanctity of human life. The Ten Commandments and our moral code formed the basis and culture of numerous societies. But there are still too many who deny the sanctity of life and worship death. We taught the value of life to the world, and they have become a death cult, glorifying the ghastly. Is it conceivable in our wildest imaginations that IDF soldiers, or any Jews, would or could have perpetrated a bloodthirsty massacre like Oct. 7? The grisly savagery was so mind-boggling that I struggle to look at the photos.
It is therefore paramount that we, the moral community, exercise the utmost vigilance to maintain our own sensitivity in the face of the visual onslaughts we are exposed to daily.
This brings me to the cynical accusations leveled against us that we Jews do not feel compassion for others. They say we “only care for our own” and do not actually extend our compassion to other people. We don’t care about the innocent men, women and children in Gaza. We only care for our own.
Well, this is but one of the many Big Lies that Jews have had to contend with over the ages. Like all of them, it is wrong, unjustified and utterly absurd. In fact, I can quite easily argue and demonstrate that Jews care more for others than those “others” care for their own. Golda Meir’s famous line comes to mind immediately: “Peace will come when the Arabs love their children more than they hate ours.” How true this remains to this day. Hamas gleefully trains children to become suicide bombers. Little children with machine guns and suicide vests are pictured regularly in their propaganda. This is their “nachas.”
As for Jewish tradition, the Talmud teaches: “We support the non-Jewish poor together with the Jewish poor.” Indeed, we have done so forever. Any objective observer will see it empirically, too.
I remember some years ago meeting the head of the United Jewish Communities of New York when he was here on a visit to South Africa. He told me how proud he was that he managed to persuade a Jewish donor in Manhattan to donate $1 million to Israel. But his pride was shattered when the next morning he read in the New York Times that the very same fellow had just donated $9 million to Columbia University (we won’t discuss Colombia University’s behavior after Oct. 7).
How many American universities, hospitals and other community centers have been supported with massive donations, sponsorships and endowments by Jewish donors? The list is endless.
Then there’s the other guilt-inducing practice that when we hear a tragedy has occurred, G-d forbid, we ask, “Were any Jews involved?” Do we only care about our own? Is it morally correct to even ask that question?
So, please allow me to assuage your guilt.
Let’s imagine you were on the Titanic. You managed to get into a lifeboat and there are people’s heads bobbing up in the water. You can’t possibly save them all from drowning. Then you see your own brother in the water. Would you say it was immoral to offer your brother your outstretched hand first before saving a stranger? Or is that, in fact, the morally correct thing to do?
Is there a moral dilemma here? In my humble opinion: no, not at all.
Charity begins at home. True, we mustn’t only give to our family. We are expected to extend our charity beyond our family to our community, in ever-widening circles if we can. But family does come first. That is a completely correct and appropriate moral duty and obligation.
We Jews are all family. We are sons and daughters of our founding patriarchs and matriarchs, and brothers and sisters literally, traditionally and emotionally. We help the world big time. But we need make no apologies whatsoever for helping our family first.
We fully accept responsibility to help causes beyond our own, but our first obligation is surely to our own brothers and sisters. For this, we have no regrets and no explanations should be necessary.
I am not at all impressed by the world agencies whose job it is to help countries and communities in need. They who claim to be “equal” in their distribution of charity and care to the needy seem to be rather discriminating when it comes to Israel and Jews. When you care “equally” about everyone, it seems you may well end up caring about no one.
So we, Israel and the Jewish people, will continue to be the most moral nation on earth. We shall carry on looking after our own and the rest of the world too.
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Who Are the Anti-Zionist Jews?
Members of extreme anti-Zionist group “Jewish Voice for Peace.” Photo: NGO Monitor.
JNS.org – As a teacher of Zionism, one of the more frequent questions I receive is about anti-Zionist Jews.
Zionism is a modern movement built on age-old values that stand for the right of the Jewish people to determine their future in a state in the Jewish people’s historic homeland—the Land of Israel. Zionists maintain that the denial of these rights is antisemitic by nature because it advocates for discriminating against the Jewish people. But I am often asked: If there are anti-Zionist Jews, how can anti-Zionism be considered antisemitism?
The question isn’t without merit, but it assumes that Jews can’t express antisemitic viewpoints or be antisemitic in general. While antisemitic Jews are an odd phenomenon, there’s no reason they can’t exist. At the same time, there are Jews who agree with the values of Zionism but maintain that Zionism’s goal of establishing a Jewish state should not have been pursued at this time due to ancillary reasons having nothing to do with Zionist values.
Jewish opponents of Zionism have diverse views, but there are three main categories of anti-Zionist Jews: 1) Jews who promote a more assimilationist position and are concerned that Zionism can bring on charges of dual loyalty and increase antisemitism. 2) Jews who are fearful of fighting for Jewish rights. They prefer an existence that doesn’t advocate for change and are satisfied with a less-than-ideal reality rather than one that could better their standing in the world. 3) Torah-observant Jews who maintain that Zionism is inconsistent with Torah values either because of its secularism or its timing before a Messianic era.
In his book Arc of a Covenant, Walter Russell Mead wrote: “In 1919, 31 of the most influential Jews in America, led by the former ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, Henry Morgenthau, presented a petition to Woodrow Wilson as he left for the Paris Peace Conference requesting him to oppose the Balfour Declaration: ‘We do not wish to see Palestine, either now or at any time in the future, organized as a Jewish State.’”
These Jews preferred living in a non-Jewish state with Jews who aspired to be more like their non-Jewish neighbors than in their own independent nation.
Many of these Jews exist today, yet an interesting phenomenon has developed with this group. Those who call themselves Zionists but practice a life that is more like the non-Jews around them than the independent Jewish lives of those in Israel. Mead wrote: “Herzl expected an unfavorable response to his [Zionist] pamphlet, and the Jews of Vienna did not disappoint him. A few weeks after publication, Herzl noted in his diary that “The Jews of the upper-class, educated circles … are horrified by me.”
It was not just that the idea of a Jewish “return” to a homeland where no Jewish state had existed for almost 2,000 years struck most sensible Jews as a fantasy rather than as a serious political proposal; it was that most Western Jews had long ago renounced the idea that the Jews were a nation. They thought of Jews as a race of people sharing a common descent or as a religious community.
Every society and community includes individuals who prefer to be viewed with favor of those around them rather than fight for their own rights and independence. They either fear independence and change or are frightened to stand up for their own rights.
Early Zionists denigrated the Jews in their community who acted this way as “Galus Jews” or “Weak-kneed Jews.” The Zionist ethos holds that Jews should stand up for themselves and demand that the nations of the world grant the Jewish people the rights all nations enjoy. Zionist Jews wouldn’t stand for the anti-Zionist Jews who were afraid to stand up for themselves and demand what rightfully belonged to the Jewish people.
Rav Chaim Soloveitchik, a Rabbi who lived at the turn of the 20th century, once said: “The Zionists attract Jews to their movement by dressing it up as ‘the mitzvah of settling in Eretz Yisroel.” Rav Chaim likened Zionists to sane people who had drunk from a poisonous well that caused them to become insane and try to convince the sane people that they are, in fact, insane. His main objection to Zionism was its move away from complete devotion to the observance of Halachah. Other rabbis maintain that Jews are prohibited from governing the Land of Israel until the Messianic era.
Dr. Theodore Herzl and Rav Chaim Soloveitchik lived at the same time. They couldn’t have been more different. Yet both revolutionized the Jewish world. Dr. Herzl’s Zionism created the State of Israel and Rav Chaim created the Brisker Derech (methodology of analysis).
As a self-declared Brisker, I don’t feel comfortable critiquing Rav Chaim’s position and prefer Rabbi Aaron Zimmer’s explanation of Rav Chaim’s position on Zionism.
In psychology, learned helplessness is a state that occurs after a person has experienced a stressful situation repeatedly. They believe that they are unable to control or change the situation, so they do not try, even when opportunities for change are available. For over 2,000 years, the Jewish people had learned helplessness and assumed they couldn’t return to Israel without a Divine command leading to the Messianic era.
Dr. Herzl, a journalist and man of the world, witnessed the political reality around him changing. He understood that the global community’s focus on liberation and move away from colonialism set the ideal conditions for the Jewish people to return to their homeland and establish their own state.
Rav Chaim and many rabbis opposed to Zionism weren’t aware of global trends and couldn’t see that the time had come to return to the Land of Israel. They saw Zionism as a movement bent on veering Jews away from the Torah with false promises of a return to Zion.
Dr. Herzl was able to take advantage of global trends and actualize the 2,000-year-old dream of the Jewish people to return to the Land of Israel.
The existence of anti-Zionist Jews troubles the Zionist community for numerous reasons, but most of all because they provide support for the antisemites of the world who mask their Jew-hatred with the “legitimate” veneer of anti-Zionism.
Anti-Zionist Jews exist on the fringes of Judaism and aren’t representative of today’s mainstream Jewish community, which overwhelmingly identifies as Zionist and supports the State of Israel. They should be given as much credence as racist black people and self-hating Catholics.
Those who point to the anti-Zionist fringes of the Jewish community and play them off as mainstream to legitimize their hate reveal themselves as antisemites.
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