How Moscow's campaign against Israel's Jewish Agency could backfire
Moscow’s recent campaign against a Jewish nonprofit closely affiliated with the Israeli government is likely part of a broader strategy to gain concessions from Israel in ongoing bilateral disputes — yet the plan could backfire.
Russia and Israel will continue contacts regarding the work of the Jewish Agency in Russia, the Kremlin said in an Aug. 9 statement following a telephone call between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Israeli counterpart, Isaac Herzog, held at the initiative of the Israeli side.
Tensions have escalated over the past few weeks after the Russian Ministry of Justice filed a request in late July to shutter the Jewish Agency for Israel’s Russian branch. The agency, which is tasked with assisting Jews who want to emigrate to Israel, has helped over 238,000 Russian Jews move to Israel since 1989, including more than 16,000 since the war in Ukraine broke out.
The ministry has not made public any specific allegations, merely stating that the charity is in “violation of Russian law in carrying out its activities.” Reports have indicated that the official reason given for the request may relate to violation of privacy laws in collecting immigrants’ information.
Experts in Russia immediately interpreted the Putin-Herzog conversation positively, though the first court session relating to the Justice Ministry’s request to shutter the group is scheduled for Aug. 19. For instance, political analyst Dmitry Fetisov noted in comments to daily Vedomosti that Moscow analyzed the reaction of the Israeli leadership to the threat of the Russian Ministry of Justice, and now it is time to soften the wording and find compromises.
