Russia says 'likely' to close Jewish Agency amid tensions with Israel over Ukraine
Russia has expressed the likelihood of dissolving a so-called Jewish Agency that works to encourage the emigration of Jews to Israel after the country’s Ministry of Justice accused the Moscow-based agency of violating Russia’s privacy laws.
Andrey Kortunov, director general of the Russian International Affairs Council, a Kremlin advisory board on foreign and defense policy, was cited by The Wall Street Journal as saying in a report on Thursday that the Jewish Agency was “likely” being targeted because of Moscow’s heightened distrust of foreign groups following the breach of its privacy laws.
The report said a Russian court is scheduled on Friday to hear the case against the Jewish Agency for Israel and decide the fate of the organization as talks to resolve the problem have so far proved fruitless.
The Russian Justice Ministry accused the agency’s representatives in Moscow in July of violating the country’s privacy laws by keeping the data on applications to immigrate to Israel in a database in Israel rather than in Russia.
Established in 1929, the agency is responsible for encouraging Jews around the world to immigrate to Israel. According to the Israeli regime’s figures, 20,246 Russian Jews immigrated to Israel between January and July 2022 with a spike from February to March.
Relations between Moscow and Tel Aviv have become strained in recent months, after Israel condemned Russia’s military operation in Ukraine and summoned the country's ambassador over the issue.
Last month, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the Israeli leadership’s “unobjective” and “unconstructive” statements on the war in Ukraine have had a negative impact on the countries’ relations.
Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid has time and again warned that the forced closure of the Jewish Agency in Russia would have a "serious impact on Israel-Russia relations."
Lapid, who as foreign minister in March slammed Russian actions in Ukraine, said in a statement last month that a closing of the Jewish Agency branch would be “grave, with ramifications for bilateral relations.”
Ukraine has been at war with Russia since President Vladimir Putin declared a military operation in the neighboring country in late February.
Israel has slammed the Russian military campaign and promised to expand assistance to Kiev.
Observers had already predicted that the Russia-Ukraine crisis could put Israel in a difficult spot, as the Tel Aviv regime has good relations with both Moscow and Kiev.
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