Chief Rabbi of Ukraine after the terrorist attack in Kyiv: Anti-Semitism is never just one form of hatred

On April 19, 2026, the Chief Rabbi of Ukraine Moshe Asman published a harsh and very precise statement after the bloody attack in the Holosiivskyi district of Kyiv. He stated that he is praying for the recovery of the wounded, among whom is a child, and for the repose of the souls of the innocently killed. But the main point in his words was not just the description of the crime itself, but the conclusion that has significance far beyond one district of Kyiv: anti-Semitism is almost never just a separate hateful idea. Most often, it is one of the first signs of a deep moral disease, which then turns into a threat to the entire society.

For the Israeli audience, this statement sounds particularly acute. Israel knows all too well that hatred of Jews rarely remains only at the level of words, slogans, or internet aggression. When a person begins to divide people into those who can be humiliated, despised, or declared redundant, very quickly the issue ceases to be only Jewish. It becomes a matter of security, the boundaries of evil, and the state’s ability to recognize the threat in time before it turns into open slaughter.

What Moshe Asman said after the attack in Kyiv

In his address, the Chief Rabbi of Ukraine wrote that since the previous day, he has been in prayer for the wounded and for the souls of those killed after the terrible terrorist attack that the Holosiivskyi district of Kyiv experienced. According to him, the person who shot six people point-blank, wounded fourteen, and held hostages in a supermarket was not only a bearer of openly anti-Ukrainian views but also a fierce anti-Semite, sympathized with Hitler’s methods, and called for “cleansings” and the killings of Ukrainians and Jews.

This wording is important not only as a characterization of one criminal. It contains a broader diagnosis. Asman directly shows that anti-Semitism and hatred of Ukraine do not exist separately from each other here. They grow from the same cult of violence, from the same dehumanization, where a person gradually gets used to considering part of society unworthy of life, freedom, and dignity.

That is why his words do not look like a religious commentary only for the Jewish community. It is a civic, moral, and political warning. Where hatred of Jews begins to be perceived as a secondary problem, very soon everyone else is also under attack.

Why this thought is important not only for Ukraine

The Israeli perspective on such words is inevitably deeper than just sympathy for another tragedy in another country. The history of the Jewish people has shown too clearly that anti-Semitism almost never limits itself to one target. It quickly connects with authoritarianism, the cult of power, contempt for freedom, and the dream of a violent “cleansing” of society.

What Asman connects anti-Semitism with hatred of Ukrainians and their right to freedom has special significance for the Israeli reader. It breaks the usual false scheme that hatred can be localized and that it concerns only one community. In practice, those who hate Jews very often hate the very idea of a free society, national dignity, and the right of a people to be themselves.

Anti-Semitism as an early signal of a common threat

One of the strongest parts of Moshe Asman’s address is the idea that anti-Semitism cannot be underestimated, romanticized, justified, or ignored. Too often, society begins to react only when hatred has already turned into action. But by this point, evil has usually already traveled a long path: from words to symbols, from symbols to calls, from calls to violence.

For Israel, this is not a theoretical thesis. It is a logic that the country knows from its own history and current reality. When people appear in society who openly sympathize with Hitler’s methods, call for “cleansings” and the killing of Jews and Ukrainians, it is no longer about marginal aggression, but about a direct threat to public safety. And in this sense, Asman’s statement should be read not as an emotional reaction, but as a warning that hatred almost always expands the circle of its victims.

In the Israeli context, this sounds especially clear also because the state of Israel constantly faces attempts to normalize the language of dehumanization. First, society is offered to tolerate it as an “opinion.” Then as “radical rhetoric.” Then it turns out that behind the words there are already weapons, blood, and real killed people. Therefore, the idea of a preventive and harsh reaction to evil, without attempts to justify it, in the eyes of the Israeli audience sounds not like abstract morality, but as a practical conclusion from history.

In the midst of this heavy topic, NANews — News of Israel | Nikk.Agency sees especially important meaning in the words of the Chief Rabbi of Ukraine: the protection of the Jewish community, the protection of Ukrainian society, and the protection of human dignity here turn out to be not three different tasks, but one common line of defense against the darkness that always first seeks a convenient target and then demands everyone indiscriminately.

Why the cult of violence always goes beyond one ideology

Asman very accurately points to the main mechanism. Where the cult of violence and dehumanization begins, the victims are no longer only those against whom the hatred was initially directed. Such logic very quickly ceases to distinguish nationalities, communities, and political views. It moves further because the very essence of such thinking is in the destruction of those who are declared foreign, redundant, or obstructive.

That is why the words that anti-Semitism is a security issue for the entire society sound like a rare clarity formula for Israel and Ukraine. It is equally understandable in Kyiv, Jerusalem, and Haifa. Hatred of Jews never remains only hatred of Jews. It very quickly turns into hatred of freedom, national subjectivity, and human life as such.

What this statement means for Israel and Ukraine

For Ukraine, Moshe Asman’s address became not only a prayer and condolence but also a demand to draw the right conclusions. Not to wait until evil is fully formed. Not to allow hatred to masquerade as a “private opinion.” Not to justify those who already live with the idea of violence. Such an approach is important for a country that simultaneously confronts external aggression and is forced to monitor internal threats of radicalization and brutality.

For Israel, these words also have a direct meaning. They remind that the fight against anti-Semitism is not only the protection of Jewish memory and Jewish identity. It is also the protection of the very principle of human society, in which the cult of hatred cannot be allowed to gain the right to grow. When the Chief Rabbi of Ukraine speaks of a heart long given to darkness, he describes not only a specific criminal but also the moral vortex that sucks society in if early signs of evil are not responded to in time and harshly.

That is why his words on April 19, 2026, have significance not only for the Ukrainian community and not only for religious circles. It is a warning for everyone who still hopes that anti-Semitism can be considered separately from the general threat to society. The experience of Israel and the experience of Ukraine today converge at one point: hatred of Jews, hatred of Ukrainians, and admiration for violence too often turn out to be parts of the same darkness. And if it is not stopped in time, the next target could be anyone.