New blow to the Russian Jewish community after the case of the chief rabbi forced to flee for not supporting the invasion of Ukraine. It was reopened in the 1990s and is the institution that helps Jews immigrate to Israel. Since February, 10,000 people have chosen to leave the country. The Lapid government sends a delegation warning: “We will not let Russian Jews become hostages.”
Moscow ( / Agencies) – The Russian Ministry of Justice has submitted an application to the Moscow District Court requesting the “dissolution” of the offices of the Jewish Agency in the country. The news was made known through the Russian agency Ria Novosti, which cites judicial sources according to which the Jewish organization is accused of unspecified “violations of the law”. A hearing to discuss the request has been set for July 28.
The incident marks a further escalation of tension between the Russian government and the local Jewish community after Moscow’s chief rabbi, Pinchas Goldschmidt, was forced to leave Russia three months ago due to pressure to support aggression against Ukraine. .
Founded in 1929 as the operational arm of the World Zionist Organization (WHO), the Jewish Agency is the largest global Jewish institution. By statute, its role is to “ensure that all Jews feel an indissoluble bond with each other and with Israel, regardless of where they live in the world.” It is known above all as the main organization that promotes aliyah, that is, the immigration of Jews to Israel. That is why this situation also indirectly involves the government of Israel. Prime Minister Yair Lapid announced that an Israeli delegation will travel to Moscow next week “in order to make it possible for the Jewish Agency to continue its activities in Russia.”
Some ministers of the Israeli government have even gone further and have expressly spoken of an intimidation of Russia due to the positions adopted by Israel in the Ukraine conflict, which after an initial attempt at equidistance have shifted increasingly in favor of kyiv. Making the situation even more delicate is the fact that Moscow controls Syrian airspace, which Star of David fighter jets often fly over in air raids against pro-Iranian targets. “Russian Jews will not be used as hostages in the war in Ukraine,” Diaspora Minister Nachman Shai said. The attempt to punish the Jewish Agency for Israel’s positions regarding the war is deplorable and offensive.”
The offices of the Jewish Agency in Moscow were reopened 30 years ago and formed a key reference point for the immigration of more than a million Jews from the former Soviet Union to Israel in the 1990s. But even in the years since the flow has never stopped and has grown again in recent months, fueled by fears in the local Jewish community of a return to anti-Semitism, linked to the conflict in Ukraine. Since February, more than 10,000 Russian Jews have chosen to emigrate to Israel and they fear that the pressure on the Jewish Agency aims to make this process more difficult.
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