Against the backdrop of the war between Israel and Iran and escalating tensions across the Middle East, the Jewish community in Moldova has reported a series of troubling events over the weekend in the capital, Chisinau.

Over Shabbos, members of the community discovered that dozens of kivrei Yisroel in the Chisinau Jewish cemetery had been vandalized in what appears to be a deliberate and malicious act. This incident is part of a broader uptick in antisemitic incidents across the country in recent days.

Among the deeply troubling occurrences: verbal harassment and threats directed at Yidden in public, antisemitic graffiti defacing the outer wall of a shul, and the inclusion of distorted and revisionist Holocaust content in a newly published state-sanctioned history textbook.

Rabbi Pinchas Zaltzman, Chief Rabbi of Moldova and a talmid chacham who has faithfully served the local community for decades, said the events are part of a troubling trend sweeping across Europe.

“As the conflict in the Middle East intensifies, we’re unfortunately witnessing an alarming surge in antisemitism,” said Rabbi Zaltzman. “This hatred is spilling over far beyond the region, and Moldova, too, is feeling its effects.”

“The recent acts of grave desecration, coupled with attempts to rewrite the truth of the Holocaust rachmana litzlan, are not just attacks on the Jewish people—they are attacks on the very dignity of human society.”

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)