Last week Russia’s Justice Ministry ordered the liquidation of the Russian branch of the Jewish Agency, a private charity closely linked to the Israeli government that promotes immigration to Israel. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday that the ministry’s request came after the agency, which has several offices in cities across the country, violated Russian law. “There are issues in terms of compliance with Russian law,” Peskov said. “The situation should not be politicized or projected onto the whole of Russian-Israeli relations.” While Israel is one of the few Western nations that has not imposed sanctions on Russia and refrained from selling arms to Ukraine, senior Israeli officials have been more critical of Russia’s war. In April, then-Foreign Minister Yair Lapid accused Moscow of war crimes after reports of civilian killings in the Ukrainian towns of Bucha, Irpin and Hostomel. Last month, the family of Pinchas Goldschmidt, Moscow’s longtime rabbi, announced that Goldschmidt had left for Israel weeks after the invasion of Ukraine after resisting Kremlin pressure to support the war. Relations between the two countries also suffered a blow in May when Russia’s long-time foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, claimed that Adolf Hitler “had Jewish blood” and that “the most rabid anti-Semites tend to be Jews.” Israel called the comments “inexcusable”. Lapid, who is now Israel’s interim prime minister, said on Sunday that closing the Jewish Agency would be “serious, with consequences for [bilateral] affinities”. Amid the diplomatic row, Israel on Tuesday announced plans to expand humanitarian aid to Ukraine, which for the first time will include financial support for civilian aid organizations in the war-torn country, the Times of Israel reported. . Meanwhile, Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, criticized Israel’s “completely unconstructive and, more importantly, biased” stance on Ukraine. “It was completely incomprehensible and strange for us,” he told Russian state television on Tuesday. Tens of thousands of Russians, many highly educated and skilled, have fled the country since Vladimir Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine more than five months ago. About 16,000 people have arrived in Israel from Russia since the start of the war, according to the Jewish Agency. Israel’s Immigration Minister Pnina Tamano-Shata told local television that 600,000 Russians are currently eligible to move to Israel. Kremlin critics have linked the pressure on the Jewish Agency to a growing crackdown on civil society since the start of the campaign in Ukraine. Dozens of foreign-funded organizations and charities have been shut down. According to the Jerusalem Post, several foreign-funded Jewish organizations operating in Russia received warning letters from the Russian government last week.
