Over the past year, I have published several op-ed pieces in the Jerusalem Post warning that Vladimir Putin’s Russia, with its blend of aggressive nationalism and paranoia, will turn on its Jews.

Many of my liberal friends in Russia responded by assuring me that Putin is not an anti-Semite. There have even been rumors that he’s at least partially Jewish himself, as well as speculation that he is, perhaps, mindful of the fate of other rulers throughout history who tangled with the Jews – including, most recently, Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin.