Senior VP Neil Chapman says supplies may only hold off bigger price shocks for a matter of weeks
FILE: ExxonMobil senior vice president Neil Chapman speaks to the media after a meeting with Cyprus’ president Nicos Anastasiades at the presidential palace in capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Friday, 5 October 2018. Photo: AP/SCANPIX
Global markets are quickly reaching “unheard-of inventory levels” of crude oil as nations and companies continue to draw from reserves to tame energy shocks from the Middle East war, a top ExxonMobil executive said Thursday
An uncomfortable reality settled in this past week: There is no clear way to return the energy industry to its pre-Iran War state anytime soon. High oil prices look like they’re here to stay and could stretch into 2027.
Trump wants to sell 1 million barrel reserve of diesel fuel
By Ari Natter, Nathan Risser, and BloombergJune 2, 2025, 1:10 PM ETAdd us on
The Trump administration wants to put a 1 million barrel cache of diesel fuel on the market, saying the reserve meant to provide an emergency supply of home heating oil for the Northeast has never been used for its intended purpose.SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images
he Trump administration wants to put a 1 million barrel cache of diesel fuel on the market, saying the reserve meant to provide an emergency supply of home heating oil for the Northeast has never been used for its intended purpose.
The United States’ emergency oil stockpile, theStrategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), is being drawn down at an unprecedented pace as global energy markets reel from the war in Iran. President Donald Trump has released crude from the reserve faster than any previous administration, leaving the SPR near its lowest levels since the early 1980s.
China’s US Treasury holdings have dropped to 2009 levels after its central bank sold more than $8 billion in the month of April.
According to a new update from the Treasury Department, China held $757.2 billion worth of Treasuries at the end of April 2025 – down from $765.4 billion in March and $784.3 in February.
In financial markets, timing is everything—for government policymakers as much as investors. So when word leaked this week that Chinese regulators were urging domestic financial institutions to limit their purchases of US Treasuries—and telling those with large exposures to reduce their positions—one question jumped out: why now? After all, the leak came at a time when this guidance had reportedly already been in place for weeks.
One major clue may be that the news broke on Bloomberg less than one week after Qiushi, a leading Chinese Communist Party journal for disseminating official views, published a 2024 speech by President Xi Jinping calling for the internationalization of China’s currency. Either development coming to light at this particular moment could be coincidental, but both surfacing within a single week are too conspicuous to ignore—especially amid what’s currently happening in Washington and New York.
Financial market turbulence
Markets have been unsettled by US President Donald Trump’s pursuit of Greenland, the unpredictability of US tariffs coupled with the Supreme Court’s impending ruling on their legality, and uncertainty over the administration’s dollar policy. Over the past month, the so-called debasement trade—selling or hedging dollar assets and buying precious metals—has gained momentum. Trump’s own comments seemingly endorsing a weaker dollar have added to the volatility.
Beijing has likely been watching closely how these developments fit into its long-term strategy. Over the past several years, China has been reported to be reducing its holdings of US Treasuries, falling from the largest sovereign holder to the third largest, behind Japan and the United Kingdom, although some of those sales may simply reflect assets transferred to other Chinese financial institutions and custodians in countries like Belgium. Other governments—including India and Brazil—have also been selling Treasuries.
At the same time, China is actively pursuing the internationalization of its own currency—a strategy aimed at reducing over time the US dollar’s central role as the primary global reserve currency. In a speech this summer, the Governor of the People’s Bank of China, Pan Gongsheng, explicitly stated that multipolarity was the government’s goal, with the dollar no longer playing such an outsized role in both the global economy and the use of financial sanctions. His deputy, Lu Lei, went a step further in December when he doubled down on China’s new cross-border payment systems, which are designed to operate outside Western networks.
Why China is tightening controls on overseas stock trading
The move has already rattled brokerages and investors, and could reshape how mainland Chinese access foreign market
Published Tue, May 26, 2026 · 12:17 PM — Updated Wed, May 27, 2026 · 05:44 AM
The CSRC is leading the effort, along with the National Financial Regulatory Administration, which handles consumer protection and supervises banks. PHOTO: BLOOMBERG
CHINA’S efforts to control capital outflows are colliding with growing demand from mainland investors for access to overseas stocks.
After an estimated US$1 trillion of unauthorised money left the country last year, authorities launched a sweeping crackdown on offshore trading platforms accused of helping investors bypass Beijing’s capital controls.
The move has already rattled brokerages and investors, and could reshape how mainland Chinese access foreign markets.
Individuals are subject to a US$50,000 annual cap on US dollar purchases, primarily intended for overseas travel, education and other non-investment purposes.
Local citizens and companies also face restrictions around converting renminbi into foreign currencies to trade securities overseas. Mainlanders are only able to invest overseas through special channels with stringent government oversight, such as the Southbound Stock Connect and the Wealth Connect programmes, which are designed for investment in certain stocks and other financial products in Hong Kong.
Another channel, the Qualified Domestic Institutional Investor programme, allows mainlanders to invest in global markets through mutual funds, while cross-border total return swaps are often used by institutions to trade overseas securities through brokers. Retail investors also have direct access to certain Hong Kong-listed shares through the Mainland-Hong Kong Mutual Recognition of Funds scheme.
Besides from using those approved channels, any overseas trading without approval from the China Securities Regulatory Commission and other regulators is considered illegal, and that’s the target of the latest crackdown.
How is Beijing cracking down on illegal overseas trading?
Since 2022, unauthorised overseas brokers have been banned from helping mainland Chinese investors open new trading accounts.
On May 22, eight government agencies launched a joint enforcement campaign threatening severe penalties for brokers that violated the rules. Authorities also barred such firms from engaging with onshore clients across the business chain, including marketing, fund settlements, and technical and customer support.
The CSRC is leading the effort, along with the National Financial Regulatory Administration, which handles consumer protection and supervises banks. The People’s Bank of China, the nation’s central bank, is also involved, as are the country’s Internet and information technology agencies.
Already three of the biggest, most active brokers in this space have been targeted in the crackdown: Futu Holdings and Long Bridge Securities, which are based in Hong Kong, and Singapore-based Tiger Brokers. The firms were fined a combined US$330 million for operating on the mainland without a license, and all “illegal gains” would be confiscated, the regulators said.
As a result of the crackdown, existing mainland clients can only sell positions and withdraw funds from banned brokerages; no new purchases or deposits are permitted. After two years, all related mainland-facing websites, apps, and servers must be fully shut down.
For now, Chinese nationals with permanent residency in Hong Kong and Singapore and those with investor or work visas are not being forced to close their trades.
Why is China cracking down on illicit overseas trading?
Illegal channels have allowed investors to circumvent China’s capital controls, which are designed to keep currency fluctuations in check and maintain financial stability. As with most economies that manage cross-border flows, China is wary of asset bubbles and the sharp crashes that often follow.
May 2026, Japan starts reducing its exposure to funding US debt:
Japan, China lead foreign government retreat from US Treasurys as Iran war fallout stokes currency fears
Story by Anniek Bao
China reduced its stash of Treasurys to $652.3 billion, the lowest level since September 2008.
Japan, the single largest foreign holder, shed approximately $47 billion to $1.191 trillion.
The U.S.-Iran conflict and a subsequent surge in crude oil prices sent currencies tumbling.
China has been gradually reducing its direct Treasury exposure since its peak in 2013, “shadow holding” in custodial countries.
The U.S. Treasury Department building in Washington.
Foreign governments cut U.S. Treasurys in March as the Middle East war forced central banks to liquidate dollar reserves, defending local currencies against an energy shock that sent exchange rates tumbling.
NEWARK, New Jersey, May 30 (Reuters) – New Jersey state police who deployed near an immigrant detention center found that out-of-state agitators escalated tensions during protests, Governor Mikie Sherrill said on Saturday.
…………….
State police on Friday set up “protected protest zones” after several days of confrontations between protesters and federal agents outside Delaney, a 1,000-bed facility whose detainees had announced a labor and hunger strike to draw attention to what they called inhumane conditions and to demand their release.
About Mikie Sherrill:
Sherrill, a former member of Congress, federal prosecutor and Navy helicopter pilot, succeeds Phil Murphy, ushering in a third term in a row of Democrats helming the state — a feat that had not been achieved for six decades. Sherrill and her running mate, Dale Caldwell, had a blowout victory in November as Democrats up and down the ballot across the country secured wins due in large part to voters’ frustrations with the first year of President Donald Trump’s return to the White House, particularly the rising cost of living.
Trump’s $1.8 billion reparations fund for Proud Boys and Jan. 6 rioters sparks fury while Black Americans still can’t even get a slavery study
Story by Nyamekye Daniel
President Donald Trump’s controversial new $1.8 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund” has already triggered outrage over the possibility that Jan. 6 rioters and Trump allies could collect taxpayer money.
TotalEnergies Drills Lebanon’s Qana Prospect Amid New Global Interest in EastMed Gas
Lebanon hopes to join the club of EastMed gas producers as TotalEnergies and its partners spud an appraisal well near Beirut’s maritime border with Israel where gas is already being produced.
As of September, TotalEnergies together with partners Eni and QatarEnergy will have spud exploration well 31/1 on Block 9 of Lebanon’s Qana prospect. It is the consortium’s second attempt in 6 years to strike gas in the EastMed where upstream riches at the crossroads of markets east and west struggle against the fiercest of global geopolitical headwinds.
Lebanese media hailed the 16 August arrival of the Transocean Barents semisubmersible drilling platform at Block 9 with guarded optimism, reporting on the Barents journey from the North Sea like a sports play-by-play, detailing the landing of the first crew transport helicopter and the offloading of pipe and other equipment delivered by ship to the Port of Beirut.
The Lebanese Petroleum Administration busily dotted the i’s and crossed the t’s on the drilling license application that TotalEnergies EP Lebanon had submitted in June while MP Ibrahim Kanaan, head of the parliament’s finance and budget committee, announced creation of the Lebanese Sovereign Fund for Oil and Gas to protect future revenues from political interference.
“The rig will start working in Lebanon in September … before the end of the year we will know if there is a discovery,” Lebanon’s caretaker Energy Minister Walid Fayyad told Reuters at an event earlier this summer in Abu Dhabi.
Built to operate in harsh environments the Barents will drill in deep water, its crew hoping to hit the sweet spot that is the Tamar Sands Formation from which Israel, Cyprus, and Egypt are producing gas or developing fields for domestic needs and for export.
Assuming commercial gas reserves are confirmed in Qana, Lebanon will join the club of EastMed gas producers—a development that would ease Beirut’s seemingly endless energy crisis, give the financially bankrupt country a share of revenues for gas exported to Europe and Asia, and attract further global investment. The World Bank has described Lebanon’s economic collapse as possibly one of the top three most severe worldwide since the 1850s.
Ain Qana, also known as Ainqana, is a municipality in the Nabatieh Governorate, Southern Lebanon. The town is situated 680 meters above sea level, has an area of 630 hectares and a population of approximately 5585.
On April 18, 1996, the village of Qana in Southern Lebanon was shelled by artillery fire from the Israeli Defense Force, the official Israeli military organization. Unfortunately, Qana was the location of a United Nations compound manned by members of the Fijian United Nations Interim Force and had been providing haven to about 800 Lebanese civilian refugees. The attack left 4 of the Fijian soldiers wounded and killed 106 of the Lebanese civilians, injuring another 116 civilians. The bombardment was part of an Israeli offensive operation from April 11-April 27, 1996, known as Operation Grapes of Wrath, an operation to stop the Islamic terrorist faction known as Hezbollah, an Iranian backed group, from sending rockets into Israeli territory from havens in Lebanon.
3 days ago:
Why is Israel attacking Lebanon’s Nabatieh, the major southern city?
Smoke billows following an Israeli strike in Nabatieh, Lebanon May 26, 2026 [Stringer/Reuters]
Beirut, Lebanon – The Israeli military ordered the forced displacement of the population of Lebanon’s southern city of Nabatieh on Tuesday, amid an escalation of its campaign – ostensibly against Hezbollah targets – in Lebanon.
Israel hit towns on the outskirts of Nabatieh on Wednesday with “near continuous artillery shelling”, Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodor reported, coming as Muslims in the country celebrated the religious holiday of Eid al-Adha.
Local media reported that Israel hit Nabatieh multiple times on Tuesday, including direct air strikes on a cemetery in the city limits. Israel also struck surrounding villages, with the village Yohmor al-Shaqif hit multiple times.
Russia spent the week telling diplomats to leave Kyiv.
Telling foreign residents to leave Kyiv.
It warned embassies to empty their offices, treating a capital city like a room with a light switch.
As if life could be folded and zipped into a bag, so carried somewhere safe before the next missile arrives.
“Leave Kyiv.”
Where exactly are we supposed to go?
There is something almost obscene in the way some people say evacuation. The word sounds clean from a distance.
The vocabulary of people who have never had to do it.
They speak as though everyone already has a map open, a road chosen, and a bed prepared somewhere else.
But ordinary life just does not work like that.
People are not loose objects. We are tied to places by rent, parents, jobs, cats, pharmacies, documents, debts, school schedules, doctors who know our history, neighbors who have our spare key, the small grocery store where the woman behind the counter already knows what bread we buy.
A person cannot simply become portable because Russia has decided to threaten the city they happen to live in.
This is the part that always disappears when powerful men speak.
They say “leave.”
And they forget that not everyone in this city is a member of some diplomatic mission, with evacuation plans prepared long before the rest of us even know where to begin.
Sometimes people abroad ask me why Ukrainians don’t just leave the threatened areas.
I understand the question. Most of them have never had to calculate escape like this.
So let me give you the calculation.
Do you have money for a week somewhere else?
Can your mother walk down five floors?
Does your salary depend on showing up tomorrow?
Well intentioned people ask because they have never had to imagine war entering every small decision, and I completely forgive them for that (that is one reason I write by the way.)
Russia, no.
Russia does not ask because they just and simply do not care.
Russia knows ordinary people cannot simply move, and this is why the warning is part of the attack.
The bomb is one violence.
The order to disappear before the bomb arrives is another.
It tells people that the problem is their presence, not Russia’s violence.
And I cannot accept that.
Kyiv is not a hotel people can check out of because a criminal government sends a warning.
This is a city where three million sleep-deprived souls are waking up this morning, making coffee, answering messages, going to work, holding their children, feeding their cats, looking at the sky and continuing because continuing is still the only honest answer we have.
You, reading this from a place at peace, hold this for a second:
A neighboring country has decided your home is now a “legitimate target.”
Notice the word they use. Legitimate.
What a clean little word for such insanity.
As if a city were obligated to empty itself politely to make room for someone else’s missiles.
As if staying were the provocation.
People stay because the place where you survive becomes part of your body.
If an embassy leaves, the missile is still a missile.
The family forced to leave is still a family forced to leave.
The attacker who warns before attacking only proves he knew exactly what he was doing.
So let this be recorded, Russia threatened more than buildings.
It threatened the idea that people are allowed to keep living where their lives already exist.
The simple human right to belong somewhere.
And still, Kyiv is here.
Kept alive by people who wake up every morning and choose this city again.
Kyiv is here because a home is not abandoned every time a murderer points at it.
Because people do not stop belonging to a place just because someone else wants it empty.
Sometimes the most radical act left is to remain where your life still knows your name.
—Viktor
🇺🇦
I usually ask you to subscribe if you can, but today, I want to ask something different: please send this piece to one person who should understand why “just leave” is not a real answer.
This testimony already belongs beyond me, and if it reaches them because of you, then this record has already gone farther than I could take it by myself.
Recently Zelensky flew to Sweden to sign an agreement to buy their Gripen fighter jets. This was a post by Former Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba:
Benjamin Netanyahu has said he has given orders to the Israeli army to seize control of 70% of the Gaza Strip in a move that threatens to torpedo an already fragile ceasefire and create catastrophic humanitarian conditions in the already devastated territory.
Under the US-brokered ceasefire in October, the Israeli army withdrew to a demarcation line which gave Israel direct control of 53% of the occupied territory. Since then, Israeli forces have steadily advanced their positions westward into the Hamas-controlled half of the strip, and declared an ever-expanded no man’s land west of that, within which they claim the right to decide who can enter and open fire on anyone perceived as a threat.
In recent days, Israeli-backed armed militias have taken a leading role in emptying the territory along the ceasefire line, telling residents to vacate their homes or shelters.
Throughout the eight months of the ceasefire, Israeli forces have continued to open fire on Palestinians within range of the “yellow line” splitting the strip, and carry out airstrikes deeper inside western Gaza, killing more than 900 Palestinians since the truce began.
The settler-colonial state’s far-right defence minister, Israel Katz, has openly stated Israel’s intention to ethnically cleanse Gaza. Genocidal intentions have being central to Israeli state ideology. Lawyers and human rights groups attacked Katz.
We committed that Hamas will not rule Gaza civilly or militarily, and so it shall be, and also the voluntary emigration plan from Gaza will be implemented.
Everything at the right timing and in the right manner.
Yet Israeli human rights groups warned that the conditions created in Gaza by Israel mean there would be nothing ‘voluntary’ about a removal scheme.
Creating living conditions that do not allow for survival, freedom and dignity, and subjecting civilians to them until they say they want to leave is not a plan for ‘encouraging voluntary emigration’ but a plan for forced evacuation and expulsion.
In Israel, elections hinge on racism and militarism
One expert warned that the context around a US-Iran peace deal and upcoming Israeli elections could dictate what happens to Gazans.
International Crisis Group analyst Mairav Zonszein said:
Because we are looking at an extension of the ceasefire and de-escalation of the situation in Iran and Lebanon, Israel – and Netanyahu specifically – will be looking for ways to show that they’re doing something on the security front, and that means exercising military power.
In a bleak commentary on the racist and militarist nature of Israeli politics, she added:
Unfortunately talking about ethnic cleansing in Gaza is not necessarily something that will hurt you in domestic politics. In fact it might even help you.
And there are fears that Israel could remove Palestinians from their land, depositing them in Somaliland.
Somaliland and Israel have agreed to normalise relations and open embassies in their respective capitals.
Some would that Gaza’s future hinging on Israeli voter prejudice speaks to the failure of the so-called ‘international community’. Yet this can just as easily be read as sign of its success. That is, if we view the global ‘liberal’ order as being built upon the suppression and expropriation of indigenous populations around the world. Which — on this evidence, at least — we certainly should.
The crime of the century is underway and the supposed guardians of human rights aren’t just indifferent. They are complicit. Palestinian lives simply do not factor in their grand calculations.
Americans continue to increasingly view Israel negatively amid ongoing conflicts in the Middle East, according to a new Pew Research Center survey.
The results published April 7 found 60% of all American adults had an unfavorable opinion of Israel, compared with 53% a year earlier. Just 37% of respondents had a favorable view of Israel, a longstanding ally of the United States in the region and a historic beneficiary of foreign aid.
Pew’s latest polling is a 20-point shift since 2022, when most Americans had favorable views of Israel. Then, just 42% had an unfavorable opinion of Israel.
Pew found younger Americans across the ideological spectrum in particular have negative views toward Israel. About 70% of respondents younger than 50 had unfavorable opinions of Israel.
Elon Musk’s rocket explosion caused masses of dangerous chemicals to pollute atmosphere
6 February 2025
Dr Connor Barker (UCL Geography) estimated that roughly 45 metric tons of metal oxide and 40 metric tons of nitrogen oxide pollution was generated by the destruction of Space-X’s Starship shortly after launch.
The largest and most powerful rocket in history exploded in a massive fireball after its successful test flight around the Earth Friday night.
Elon Musk‘s SpaceX declared the launch of Starship 12 a success and noted that the space capsule’s explosion in the Indian Ocean was planned as the aerospace company did not plan to reuse the experimental craft.
Why dismantling environmental regulation results in our being no longer protected from poisoning of this planet. The oceans circulate the planet, they have no contained borders. The contaminated air blows in the winds around us. Marine life cannot withstand these onslaughts.
Here is an abstract from a 2024 scientific article:
This study delves into the critical issue of water pollution caused by the presence of metal oxides, synthetic dyes, and dissolved organic matter, shedding light on their potential ramifications for both the environment and human health. Metal oxides, ubiquitous in industrial processes and consumer products, are known to leach into water bodies, posing a significant threat to aquatic ecosystems. Additionally, synthetic dyes, extensively used in various industries, can persist in water systems and exhibit complex chemical behavior. This review provides a comprehensive examination of the toxicity associated with metal oxides, synthetic dyes, and dissolved organic matter in water systems. We delve into the sources and environmental fate of these contaminants, highlighting their prevalence in natural water bodies and wastewater effluents. The study highlights the multifaceted impacts of them on human health and aquatic ecosystems, encompassing effects on microbial communities, aquatic flora and fauna, and the overall ecological balance. The novelty of this review lies in its unique presentation, focusing on the toxicity of metal oxides, dyes, and dissolved organic matter. This approach aims to facilitate the accessibility of results for readers, providing a streamlined and clear understanding of the reported findings.
“Oman will behave just like everybody else, or we’ll have to blow ’em up.” President Donald Trump made that threat Wednesday at a Cabinet meeting, discussing his administration’s negotiations with Iran and the near future of the Strait of Hormuz.
Past offending outbursts:
With this odd threat against Oman, Trump has now threatened or attacked one out of every 13 countries in the world, CNN Senior Reporter Aaron Blake notes.
Israel kills 10 people in Lebanon, including rescuers and a child in a ‘double tap’ strike
Despite agreeing to cease fire multiple times, Israel has killed 3,111 Lebanese people since February, including 123 medics, over 210 children, and nearly 300 women.
Since February, Israel has killed 123 medics, more than 210 children and nearly 300 women in Lebanon. / TRT World
May 22, 2026
Lebanon’s health ministry has said that Israeli forces killed 10 people in new truce violations, including six rescuers and a child, with some of them killed in a “double-tap” attack captured on video.
In a statement on Friday, the Lebanese ministry said “six people were martyred”, including two rescuers from the Risala Scouts association and a Syrian girl, in an attack on Deir Qanun al-Nahr village near the city of Tyre.
An earlier strike on the southern town of Hanaway killed four rescuers, the ministry said.
Videos circulating on social media claim to show the killing of a father and his child in an attack by occupying Israeli forces, followed by a subsequent strike as rescuers gather at the scene.
Footage captured by a resident from her window shows the moment paramedics were killed by Israel in Deir Qanun al-Nahr, southern Lebanon.
Rescuers are seen trying to assist casualties, including a child, lying in the street following an earlier Israeli attack.
“An innocent child… what did she ever do?” the woman asks in the video documenting the aftermath of an Israeli attack.
Then an ambulance arrives.
Moments later, another missile from Israeli forces directly hits the site. A sudden flash and explosion are immediately followed by widespread panic.
“They hit the medics… they hit the medics. The medics are gone, the medics are gone …” the woman screams in terror.
A paramedic sitting beside the wounded suddenly collapses as a woman cries out: “Oh my God… he’s dead…”
Double-tap strikes are a pattern Israel has routinely used since the beginning of its genocide in Gaza, monitors say, with the second strike intended to kill first responders and rescue workers arriving at the scene.
Only psychopaths could enjoy carrying out double tap strikes on first responders. It is a common pattern. Like serial killers, it is the trademark of the Israeli ‘Defence’ Force.
Regarding International law of occupiers of territory – here is an extract of historically agreed laws, which are no longer adhered to by what was once a respected nation:
Relief Supplies and Actions
The occupying power has the duty to ensure that the adequate provision of food and medical supplies is provided, as well as clothing, bedding, means of shelter, other supplies essential to the survival of the civilian population of the occupied territory, and objects necessary for religious worship (GCIV Arts. 55, 58; API Art. 69).
The occupying power must allow the protecting power, or the ICRC and other impartial humanitarian organizations, to verify the state of these supplies in occupied territories, and to visit protected persons so as to monitor their condition (GCIV Arts. 30, 55, and 143). It is also under the obligation to allow the ICRC or any other impartial humanitarian organization to undertake their own strictly humanitarian relief actions aimed at this population. All States must allow and facilitate rapid and unimpeded passage of all relief supplies and must not divert them, in any way whatsoever, from their destination. The only restrictions that parties to the conflict may impose are technical ones, or they may ask for guarantees that the relief is destined to the population in need and will not be used by the adverse power.
The fact that humanitarian organizations are delivering relief in no way relieves the occupying power of any of its own responsibilities to ensure that the population is properly supplied (GCIV Arts. 59–62 and 108–111; API Arts. 69–71).
The occupying power must not transfer or deport the population of occupied territories or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies (GCIV Art. 49 and Rule 130 of the 2005 ICRC customary IHL study).
I heard someone explaining how Israel changed after Russian and Ethiopian Jews began a mass exodus to Israel since 1989. So I looked it up. There are many articles on the Internet concerning this phenomenon, and it is just that. A phenomenon. I am reproducing this informative essay from 2020, and it links further essays the author has provided, for those interested:
Soviet Jews from Moscow disembark at Ben-Gurion Airport on August 20, 1991. SVEN NACKSTRAND/AFP via Getty Images.
November 23, 2020
How One Million Russian Immigrants Revitalized Israel
At the end of the 1980s, Israel was barely managing its finances and its security. Then a substantial part of the professional and cultural elite of a superpower showed up.
In the summer of 1989, I left my home in Jerusalem for a reporting assignment in Europe, covering the fall of Communism from Warsaw to Berlin to Prague. A year later, I returned to a different Israel. In the supermarket there were strange cheeses and yogurt drinks labeled with Cyrillic writing, and unimagined, new products like frozen blueberries and cherries. On the streets, young musicians played cello and old men with gold teeth played accordion. The country suddenly felt as though it had become both less intimate and more claustrophobic: my daughter’s first-grade class was packed with 40 children to accommodate the immigrant influx.
I joined the staff of the recently founded Jerusalem Report magazine and was given the Russian beat. My editor, Ze’ev Chafets, told me that we Israelis are opening our home to hundreds of thousands of strangers, and none of us knows anything about who these people are. And so, I went out to learn. I sought intimate stories: a couple struggling to stay together as the husband became increasingly religious and his half-Jewish wife increasingly bewildered; the editor of a new Russian-language Israeli newspaper who had sat in the Gulag for Zionist activity but who felt himself an outsider to the Jewish story; a celebrated organist in the northern town of Carmiel who divided his time touring Europe and working as an Israeli garbageman.
The early 1990s not only brought a million Russian immigrants to Israel but tens of thousands of Ethiopians, who had been gradually arriving through the previous decade. The two immigrations were opposing images of each other: the Russians, with impressive secular education but the least Jewish knowledge of any immigrant wave; the Ethiopians, with little secular education but deep religiosity. Many Russians had come to Israel because it was as far West as they could reach; the Ethiopians had come to Zion. Inevitably, they regarded each other with suspicion and even loathing. In one absorption center I visited near Haifa, Russians and Ethiopians had to be housed in different areas after coming to blows.
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![Smoke billows following an Israeli strike in Nabatieh, Lebanon May 26, 2026 [Stringer/Reuters]](https://img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/AA249WQY.img?w=768&h=512&m=6 "Smoke billows following an Israeli strike in Nabatieh, Lebanon May 26, 2026 [Stringer/Reuters]")
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