Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid warned Russia on Sunday against shutting down the Jewish agency in charge of organizing the emigration of Jews to Israel.
In remarks at the beginning of the cabinet session, Lapid said such step would be a “grave event” that would negatively affect diplomatic ties between Jerusalem and Moscow.
His office issued a statement noting he affirmed during the meeting that ties with Russia are significant to Israel.
“The Jewish community in Russia is large and important and comes up in every diplomatic discussion with the administration in Moscow,” the statement quoted Lapid as saying.
“Closing the Jewish Agency’s offices would be a grave event, which will have consequences on those ties,” Lapid stressed.
Immigration Minister Pnina Tamano-Shata, two ministers who immigrated to Israel from the former Soviet Union, Moldova-born Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman and Ukraine-born Construction Minister Zeev Elkin attended the meeting along with other government officials.
Last week, a Moscow court said that the Justice Ministry had requested the “dissolution” of the Jewish Agency due to unspecified legal violations and set a hearing for July 28.
Israel considered the decision political and in retaliation for appointing Lapid as a PM, especially that he has taken a tougher rhetorical over the Ukraine conflict than Israel’s former premier Naftali Bennett, who stepped aside on July 1.
Israel fears Russia’s hostile stances will reflect on the situation in Syria.
Lapid, who also serves as foreign minister, ordered that a legal delegation be set up to depart for Moscow as soon as it receives approval from Russia.
