Russian Government Shake-up Has Jewish Community Nervous Boris Yeltsin visits an anti-terrorism group in 1999. (SHONE/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)
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Russian President Boris Yeltsin’s latest Cabinet reshuffling could hinder the government’s ability to crack down on anti- Semitism, according to Russian Jewish leaders.
“There is little grounds for optimism when we call on the government to ensure stability but there is no stability with the government itself,” said Pavel Feldblum, the executive vice president of the Moscow Jewish Community.
Feldblum’s comments came after Yeltsin sacked his entire Cabinet, including Prime Minister Sergei Stepashin, in a surprise move Monday. Yeltsin replaced Stepashin, the fourth prime minister he has fired in the last 17 months, with security chief Vladimir Putin, a former KGB spy.