A group of demonstrators in southwest Russia, while chanting anti Israeli remarks on Sunday night reportedly searched for passengers who had departed Tel Aviv.

According to the Russian aviation authority Rosaviatsia, the airport in Makhachkala, Republic of Dagestan was closed when rioters started flooding the runway. Rosaviatsia said that all flights heading towards Makhachkala had been diverted.

Amichai Stein, a reporter for the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation (IPB), said that during the protests a few Jews and Israelis felt “isolated”. The rioters shouted anti-Semitic and “Allahu akbar” slogans.

According to Reuters, the Foreign Ministry of Jerusalem confirmed that an Israeli ambassador was in Russia working with the authorities to protect Israelis in the area.

The statement stated that “Israel views as gravely attempted to harm Israelis and Jews anywhere.” The statement read: “Israel expects Russian law enforcement to protect all Israeli citizens, Jews, and Jews of any nationality, and take robust action against rioters, as well as against unbridled incitement directed against Jews and Israelis.”

Dagestan is a predominantly Muslim region. Only 83,000 Jews live in Russia.

Rebekah Koffler, a foreign affairs expert at Fox News Digital, said that if the protests were not stopped the situation could “be a major problem for Putin”.

Koffler said that “many [local Muslims] have become radicalized as a consequence of the suppression of religion in Soviet times. They learned about extremist versions of Islam outside Russia.” “Putin brutally waged two wars against Chechnya, destroying it to eliminate Islamic extremism.”

It is frightening to imagine what could happen to Russian Jews once again. Putin has been largely pro-Israel and pro-Jewish for the past 20 years. She added that if he does not do it correctly, this could destabilize Muslim-populated regions of Russia and even ignite terrorism again in larger cities.

The Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned Sunday’s riots, calling them “appalling”, and accusing Russian officials that they were hateful toward Jews.

“This is not a isolated incident in Makhachkala. It is part of Russia’s culture of hatred towards other nations that is promoted by state TV, pundits and authorities,” he said on X, formerly Twitter.

The Russian Foreign Minister has made antisemitic comments in the past year. “The Russian President used antisemitic insults,” explained the Ukrainian leader. Hate speech is part of the daily routine for Russian propagandists on official television. Even the latest Middle East crisis prompted antisemitic remarks from Russian ideologists.