{"id":91528,"date":"2026-02-06T17:17:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T22:17:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/?p=91528"},"modified":"2026-02-06T17:51:05","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T22:51:05","slug":"former-moscow-rabbi-says-he-rebuffed-proposal-to-convert-a-million-russians-discussed-in-epstein-files-recording","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/former-moscow-rabbi-says-he-rebuffed-proposal-to-convert-a-million-russians-discussed-in-epstein-files-recording\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Moscow rabbi says he rebuffed proposal to convert a million Russians discussed in Epstein files recording"},"content":{"rendered":"

By ASAF ELIA-SHALEV<\/p>\n

(JTA) \u2014 When newly released audio recordings revealed former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak discussing mass conversion and selective immigration with Jeffrey Epstein, disgraced financier and the convicted sex trafficker, the reaction in Israel was swift and deeply political.<\/p>\n

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Ehud Barak, a former prime minister of Israel, announces the establishment of a new political party that he will lead, in Tel Aviv, June 26, 2019. (Flash 90)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Israel\u2019s current prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, accused Barak of seeking to \u201cselect\u201d Jews for immigration and charged that Israel\u2019s political left was trying to \u201creplace the people\u201d after failing at the ballot box \u2014 an echo of contemporary conspiracy theories about immigration that appear to have been treated as a serious idea at the time.<\/p>\n

The recordings, released this week as part of the U.S. Justice Department\u2019s latest disclosure under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, capture Barak in a wide-ranging conversation with Epstein, who died in federal custody in 2019. The audio appears to date to around 2013, when Barak \u2014 a longtime leader in the liberal Labor Party \u2014 was 71 years old and transitioning into the private sector.<\/p>\n

In the recording, Barak argues that Israel should weaken the Orthodox rabbinate\u2019s control over conversion and open the door to large-scale conversion as a demographic strategy.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to break the monopoly of the Orthodox rabbinate \u2014 on marriage and funerals, the definition of a Jew,\u201d Barak says. \u201cOpen the gates for massive conversion into Judaism. It\u2019s a successful country. Many will apply.\u201d<\/p>\n

Over more than three hours, Barak speaks candidly about population trends in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, warning that without a two-state solution, Jews could lose their demographic majority.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt will be an Arab majority,\u201d Barak says of the territories. \u201cIt\u2019s a collective blindness of our society.\u201d<\/p>\n

Barak also expresses concern about the growing proportion of Arab citizens within Israel, noting that Arabs made up about 16% of the population four decades ago and roughly 20% today. He contrasts that growth with the ultra-Orthodox Jewish population, which he says is expanding more rapidly.<\/p>\n

As a counterweight, Barak proposes immigration, conversion and minority inclusion. He praises the Druze and Christian minorities as highly integrated and points to immigrants from the former Soviet Union as prime candidates for conversion.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can control the quality much more effectively, much more than the founding fathers of Israel did,\u201d Barak says. Referring explicitly to immigration from North Africa, he adds: \u201cThey took whatever came just to save people. Now, we can be more selective.\u201d<\/p>\n

Barak lauds the post-Soviet aliyah of the 1990s, which brought more than 1 million Russian-speaking immigrants to Israel, and says the country could \u201ceasily absorb another million.\u201d He recounts telling Russian President Vladimir Putin that Israel about this idea and joking about mixed Russian-Israeli names in the military as evidence of rapid integration.<\/p>\n

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Pope Francis greets Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt during an International Meeting for Peace in Rome, Oct. 7, 2021. (Franco Origlia\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The remarks drew sharp criticism from Pinchas Goldschmidt, who spent more than three decades leading Moscow\u2019s Jewish community before leaving the country after Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. In an interview, Goldschmidt said the recording echoed conversations he encountered repeatedly during his years in Russia.<\/p>\n

\u201cI spent 33 years in Moscow, and there was talk like this,\u201d Goldschmidt said. \u201cNot necessarily among the heads of the agencies dealing with aliyah, but among employees and officials who felt this was their opportunity to stop Israel from becoming a Levantine country.\u201d<\/p>\n

Goldschmidt said those attitudes occasionally surfaced in direct encounters with Israeli political figures. He recalled a meeting with former Israeli minister Haim Ramon, who asked whether Orthodox rabbinical courts could convert large numbers of non-Jewish immigrants from the former Soviet Union.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe came to me with a number,\u201d Goldschmidt said. \u201cHe mentioned 100,000.\u201d<\/p>\n

Goldschmidt said his response was categorical. \u201cHalacha doesn\u2019t speak in numbers,\u201d he said, referring to Jewish law. \u201cThere is no number on the top and no number on the bottom. Halacha speaks about standards and conditions. If 1 million people are ready to convert according to Jewish law, then we will convert 1 million people. And if they are not ready, we will not convert even one.\u201d<\/p>\n

Goldschmidt said the meeting took place after Ramon had left government following a sexual misconduct scandal but emphasized that it was not a casual exchange.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was more than a conversation,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was not a conversation over tea. If he came to see me officially, with a question like that on the table, then it meant something.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Goldschmidt, Barak\u2019s claim in the recording that he discussed such matters with Putin was particularly striking. \u201cWhy do you have to speak to Putin about converting a million Russians?\u201d he asked. \u201cPeople can leave Russia without permission. The person he needed to speak to was me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Goldschmidt said Barak\u2019s framing of conversion and immigration would be widely perceived in Israel as offensive. \u201cAnyone from Middle Eastern backgrounds would hear this whole conversation as extremely racist,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd anyone who is traditional or religious would also find it very offensive.\u201d<\/p>\n

In his comments, Netanyahu also said Barak\u2019s close relationship with Epstein proved that Epstein did not work for Israel or its intelligence services, saying it would make no sense for an Israeli asset to be closely associated with one of the government\u2019s most vocal opponents.<\/p>\n

Barak\u2019s ties to Epstein \u2014 including repeated meetings years after Epstein\u2019s 2008 conviction \u2014 have been reported previously, and there is no evidence of criminal wrongdoing by Barak.<\/p>\n

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