Russia Moves to Close Key Jewish Group as Ties With Israel Sour

Cross posting from GD:

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100217062824

Russia is moving to close an important nonprofit organization that helps Russian Jews emigrate to Israel, in a sign of deteriorating relations between the Kremlin and the Israeli government amid tensions over Israel’s stance on Russia’s war in Ukraine. On Friday, a Russian court will hear the case against the Jewish Agency for Israel, which the Russian Justice Ministry accuses of violating the country’s privacy laws. The agency, which works closely with the Israeli government, is responsible for helping Jews around the world immigrate to Israel and moves against it are seen in Israel as an attack on the country. It has been a significant player in the country’s history and had a central role in the run-up to its founding in 1948.

The agency has operated in Russia since 1989 and has overseen the emigration of more than a million residents of countries in the former Soviet Union to Israel, a country with just over nine million residents. It is also a pillar of Jewish life in Russia, organizing Jewish communal activities. Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid, who has been a vocal critic of the Russian war in Ukraine, has said the closure of the agency in Moscow “would be a serious event that would affect relations” between Israel and Russia.

Israel considers its relationship with Russia as vitally important. In Syria, where Israel has been carrying out a years long air campaign to prevent the buildup of Iranian forces on its border, the Israeli and Russian air forces maintain close communication to avoid unintentional clashes, though they are on different sides of the country’s civil war. Israel also says its ties with Moscow are a boon to Russia’s Jewish community, one the largest outside of Israel and North America.

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Talks to resolve the problem have so far proved fruitless, said the Israeli official, who expressed pessimism as to whether the Jewish Agency would be able to continue to function in Russia. The official, as well as Jewish officials from Russia and analysts, said it wasn’t clear how much the Jewish agency was being targeted specifically over Israel’s stance on the war in Ukraine, or whether it has been caught up in Russia’s widespread crackdown against foreign organizations within its borders. Andrey Kortunov, director-general of the Russian International Affairs Council, a Kremlin advisory board on foreign and defense policy, said the Jewish Agency is likely being targeted because of Moscow’s heightened distrust of foreign groups and the authorities’ alarm over brain drain. He said the Kremlin could also be sending Israel a message over its stance on the war.

Mr. Kortunov added that Russia’s ties with Israel have become shakier, not only because of the country’s position on the war, but because of Moscow’s growing ties with Tehran and the departure of Benjamin Netanyahu from his role as prime minister last year. For Russian President Vladimir Putin, he said, personal ties with world leaders—particularly those he views as strong—play a significant role in Moscow’s foreign policy.

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Mr. Putin, who has long cast himself as a backer of the community, regularly speaks out against anti-Semitism. In 2012, oligarchs close to Mr. Putin funded the building of the Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center in Moscow. However, since the start of the war, Israeli officials estimate that around 20,000 Russian Jews have immigrated to Israel, up nearly fivefold over the same period last year, Jewish Agency officials said.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/russia-moves-to-close-key-jewish-group-as-ties-with-israel-sour-11660816594 (subscription)