The Consul General of Israel humorously developed the topic of Cheburashka's Jewish origin

The character "Cheburashka" is very popular in Israel, however, the nationality of this character is unknown. This was stated by the Consul General of Israel in St. Petersburg Ras Gidor.

"We know that the creators of the cartoon about Cheburashka were Soviet Jews, but, unfortunately, today it is not known for certain what nationality he is," he told RIA Novosti.

Ran Gidor noted that Cheburashka has become a cult character in In Israel, "after all, metaphorically speaking, he made aliyah (repatriation of Jews to Israel), arriving in our country with a wave of Soviet emigration."

According to the Consul General, Cheburashka could become not just a symbol of friendship between the two states, but also enter the honorary list of Jews who contributed to the development of Russian culture, along with Sergei Eisenstein, Isaac Babel and By Moses Weinberg. Moreover, immigrants from the USSR contributed not only to the wide spread of the Russian language in Israel, but also to cultural expansion, including in the animation sphere. The Consul General's daughter loves the cartoon about Cheburashka and knows all the songs from it by heart.

"However, the only way to verify that he belongs to the Jewish nation, if we do not have any information about his parents, is to check for circumcision and make sure that he does not eat pork," concluded Ran Gidor.

As EADaily reported, earlier during the discussion of the budget amendment on financing the "Native Toy" contest, the head of the State Duma Committee on Budget and Taxes, Andrei Makarov, suggested that Cheburashka was Jewish by nationality, since he came from Israel.

Makarov urged his colleagues to recall from which single country in The Soviet Union brought oranges.

"Do you remember where from? They were imported from Israel. Cheburashka is a Jew. He came from there in a barrel of oranges. He's from abroad," Makarov said with a laugh.

Someone pointed out that the oranges could be Spanish or Moroccan. However, Makarov objected that Spain did not supply oranges in those years, and tangerines were Moroccan.

The former wife of the writer Eduard Uspensky, TV presenter Eleonora Filina said that when creating Cheburashka, the question of its origin "was not even discussed."

"Now the binding can be done to anything. You can turn anything you want upside down. I would not like to go completely crazy," she added.