Russia’s closure of Jewish agency would harm bilateral ties: Israeli premier

By Burak Dag and Enes Canli

JERUSALEM/ANKARA (AA) - Russia’s shutdown of the offices of the Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI) in the country would harm relations between the two countries, Israel’s caretaker Prime Minister Yair Lapid said Sunday.

"Closing the Jewish Agency’s offices would be a serious event that would affect relations," the Prime Minister’s Office quoted Lapid as saying.

Chairing a meeting on Moscow’s threatened move to outlaw JAFI in the country, Lapid drew attention to Israel’s relations with Russia.

"The large Jewish community in Russia is important and is brought up in all diplomatic discourse with the administration in Moscow," he said.

Among those attending the meeting were Israel’s Aliyah and Integration Minister Pnina Tamano-Shata, Finance Minister Avigdor Lieberman and Foreign Ministry Director-General Alon Ushpiz as well as representatives of JAFI and the World Zionist Organization.

The statement by the Prime Minister’s Office added that Lapid instructed a delegation to be prepared to head to Moscow as soon as Russian approval is received and to make "every effort to exhaust the legal dialogue alongside advancing the high-level diplomatic dialogue on the issue."

Ushpiz will continue to coordinate the matter with all relevant parties, it noted.

The Russian Justice Ministry last week called for the dissolution of the Jewish agency’s activities in the country and a court in Moscow will begin a hearing over the ministry’s request on July 28.

Following the justice ministry’s request, the Israeli administration held an emergency meeting on the matter.

Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the request for the closure of JAFI's office in Russia was related to Russian legislation.

JAFI, founded in 1929, said its purpose is “planting and nurturing the seeds of friendship between Jewish communities separated by distance.”

The agency is also known for its activities to settle Jews on Palestinian land.

-'Fluctuating course' in Israeli-Russian relations

Israel has reportedly been acting cautiously, considering its freedom of military action in Syria, and is facing difficulties maintaining its relations with Russia.

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) carry out numerous air and missile attacks against Iran and regime targets in coordination with Moscow in Syria, where Russia plays an active militarily role.

Israel, which has avoided confronting Russia since Moscow launched its war in Ukraine, has been under pressure from the US and its allies in the West, media reports indicated.

While former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett avoided mentioning Russia in his first statements about the war in Ukraine, then-Foreign Minister Lapid condemned Russia's attack.

Israel has so far focused on humanitarian aid to Ukraine and decided to send protective vests and military helmets to the Kyiv administration at the end of April.

The UN General Assembly suspended Russia from the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in April due to the war it launched against Ukraine and Israel voted in favor of the resolution.

Following the vote, the Russian Foreign Ministry said "there is a thinly veiled attempt to take advantage of the situation around Ukraine in order to divert the attention of the international community from one of the oldest unresolved conflicts – the Palestinian-Israeli one."

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s comment at the beginning of May that Adolf Hitler was of Jewish descent caused outrage in Israel and the Russian ambassador to Israel was summoned to the Israeli Foreign Ministry.

Prime Minister Bennett, Foreign Minister Lapid and many other high-level figures condemned Lavrov's statement.

Although Israel in a statement claimed that Russian President Vladimir Putin apologized to Bennett for Lavrov’s remarks, the Kremlin’s statement on the issue did not include any information on Putin's apology.