At a Feb. 27 meeting of Israel’s foreign affairs and security Cabinet, Foreign Minister Yair Lapid turned to his colleagues with a strange request-cum-warning, asking them not to provide assistance to Jewish-Russian billionaires/oligarchs who have been hit by international sanctions. “You have to be very careful because those guys have connections and they can call you on the phone and ask you for things. Don’t commit to anything because it could cause diplomatic damage. Say you can’t help them and give them the number of the Foreign Ministry,” said Lapid.

Such appeals have apparently already begun. The oligarchs are the latest twist in the dilemmas with which the Russian invasion of Ukraine are confronting Israel as it seeks to balance a host of competing interests. Quite a number of them are Jewish and hold Israeli citizenship. Quite a few are connected in one way or another to senior Israeli civil society and political echelons. A few live in Israel at least part time and invest their money here. Israel may have to impose sanctions on them.

The best-known oligarch is Roman Abramovich, a Russian-born Jewish billionaire who lives in Israel part time and owns a mansion here. He was considered one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s closest associates, and on top of it all is a generous benefactor of hospitals and public causes, including a pledge of tens of millions of dollars to the Yad Vashem Holocaust Remembrance Center. Reports yesterday said Abramovich is in Belarus, apparently at Ukraine’s request, assisting in the negotiations between Russia and Ukraine.

Israeli officials are torn. For now, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett is doing what Israel always does when it approaches a minefield — forming a committee. The panel will examine potential sanctions on a case-by-case basis, in the hope that by the time this process is completed, the crisis will be behind us. For now, the crisis is mostly ahead of us.