Why Russia is threatening the Jewish Agency

COLIN SHINDLER: The Nevsky church, Ukraine, Iranian gas - the Kremlin's action is perhaps less about antisemitism than opposing foreign influence.

Last week, Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid called a meeting of ministerial colleagues and interested parties to discuss the threat from the Kremlin to close down the Jewish Agency for Israel in Russia - a body which facilitates the emigration of Jews from that country.

Many were unsure whether the Kremlin's move was merely intimidatory posturing or a reflection of a developing reality towards Jews and Israel. For several weeks previously, the Israeli government did not take it seriously and placed the issue on the back-burner.

The crisis had formally begun on July 1, when a letter arrived from the Russian Ministry of Justice to the Jewish Agency which cited a violation of Russian law. The letter stated that the Jewish Agency “collects, stores and transfers data about Russian citizens”.

In reaching out to Russian Jews, the Jewish Agency has clearly been carrying out its traditional role — a role it officially took over in 1989 in the USSR during Mikhail Gorbachev's promotion of glasnost and perestroika. However, collecting information and storing it on servers outside Russia has been forbidden since 2014 - the year of the annexation of Crimea. The Jewish Agency has therefore been skating on thin ice as the Kremlin tightened the screws on Russian society with increasingly draconian actions. The Ministry of Justice then placed the matter in the hands of a Moscow court. 

At a hearing held in camera this week, the court set yet another hearing for August 19. This may provide a period of mediation between Israelis and Russians to diffuse the crisis and potentially kick the issue into the long grass. On the other hand, this byzantine dance may still lead the Kremlin to ban the Jewish Agency from Russia.