Published: 8 July 2022
Last updated: 5 March 2024
After a three-year investigation, the Russian Justice Ministry is questioning the support given to thousands of Russian Jews emigrating to Israel
The Russian government is placing pressure on the Jewish Agency to change its work in Russia, with some reports claiming it has ordered the Agency to leave completely.
The Jerusalem Post reported this week that the Agency had been ordered to cease operations in Russia, following a three-year investigation of its operations.
A senior Israeli diplomatic official was quoting as saying “Russia has claimed that the Jewish Agency illegally collected information about Russian citizens.”
But the Jewish Agency for Israel is denying the report. It acknowledged Russian Justice Ministry officials wrote to the Jewish Agency expressing concerns earlier this week said the letter requested changes to its migration program, but said the issue was only about the way the Agency worked.
In a statement, the Jewish Agency said that it is occasionally required by authorities abroad to “make adaptations” to its work and that it is now in communication about doing so with Russian authorities.
There are more than 100 Jewish Agency employees in Russia, providing Jewish education activities and migration support for Russian Jews.
Aliyah has surged since the Russian invasion of Ukraine but many people cannot leave because sanctions mean few flights from Russia.
“People from the Jewish community have been feeling the Iron Curtain setting on them, and they fear they won’t be able to escape the country,” a senior source in Russia’s Jewish community said.
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Russia orders Jewish Agency to stop all operations in country (Jerusalem Post)
