More than 20,000 have immigrated since the beginning of the year.. Russian Jews flock to Israel as the Kremlin targets a Jewish agency in Moscow

Since the beginning of this year, a new wave of Jewish immigration from Russia began, during which tens of thousands of Russians flocked to Israel;

This prompted the Russian Ministry of Justice last July to request the liquidation of the Moscow branch of the Jewish Agency of Israel, a non-profit organization that helps foreign Jews move to Israel.

Israel is the best choice for Russian Jews who want to leave Russia, and this is explained by the oncologist - of Jewish origin - Ilya Fomintsov, 43, as he says: “In many cases, residing legally in other countries is impossible, and it is also impossible to open bank accounts.” There or doing business; Israel was my only option, and I benefited from the deportation programme.”

Fomintsov was arrested in Russia and sentenced to 20 days in prison, after he took to the streets of Moscow to protest the Ukraine war, and as a result decided to leave Russia, and while other Russian opponents were heading to Turkey, Georgia and Armenia, Fomintsov complied with the advice of an old man and began collecting documents proving his origin The Jew, and set an appointment at the Israeli consulate.

According to Israeli government figures, 20,246 Russians immigrated to Israel between January and July 2022, with the numbers rising from about 700 people per month last February to more than 3,000 last March, compared to 15,930 Russians. They immigrated to Israel during the whole of 2019.

Most of the immigrants from Russia are Jews, but only some of them may be closely related to Jews.

Under Israel's Law of Return, a person must have at least one Jewish grandfather in order to obtain citizenship immediately.

Russian anger

There are about 600,000 Russians eligible to immigrate to Israel, and it seems that the volume of immigration surprised and angered the Russian authorities, and perhaps this is what prompted the Kremlin to ask the Russian Ministry of Justice last July to liquidate the Moscow branch of the Jewish Agency on the pretext of violating privacy laws.

The Basmani District Court in Moscow is scheduled to hold the first session on Friday.

This court often deals with politically sensitive cases.

The Jewish Agency - which in 2020 transferred thousands of Ukrainian Jews to Israel - says that its activities, which serve the Jewish community in Russia, will continue in order to ensure that the Jews remain connected to their heritage, as it claimed.

Although the cases brought to the Jewish Agency are officially related to violations of Russian data protection laws, the Israeli Diaspora Minister Nachman Shai accused Russia - last July - of trying to punish Israel for its position on Ukraine.

With the Jewish Agency exposed to the possibility of closure, Russian immigration to Israel is likely to become more expensive in the absence of the generous financial support it provides to potential Israelis.

In the case of Doctor Fomintsov, the Jerusalem-based Jewish Agency paid for plane tickets for him, his wife and his three children.

In 2020, the Jewish Agency transferred thousands of Ukrainian Jews to Israel (Israel Government Press Office)

Israel's fears

An Israeli delegation left at the end of last July for Moscow, for the first time since the start of the crisis between the two countries against the backdrop of the Russian move to ban the Jewish Agency.

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid said - in a written statement - that the departing delegation will hold meetings with the relevant Russian authorities, considering that the closure of the agency's branch in Russia is "dangerous and will have repercussions on (bilateral) relations."

Last Sunday, Israel decided to send a delegation to Moscow after the decision of the Russian Ministry of Justice to request the judiciary to ban the activities of the Jewish Agency, but the Israeli Broadcasting Corporation indicated - at the time - that Russia did not agree to the arrival of the Israeli legal delegation, until the recent announcement of the Prime Minister's Office.

The case has raised concerns in Israel about a crisis with Russia, where the largest Jewish community resides and has influence in neighboring Syria, and the Israeli Statistics Department estimates the number of Jews of Russian origin in Israel at about 900,000 people.

Exacerbating the crisis, Israeli officials leaked a list of possible Israeli responses to the expected Russian decision, including the possibility of summoning the Israeli ambassador in Moscow for consultations.

And Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz revealed - in a conference organized by Israeli Channel 13 - that Russian defense batteries fired at Israeli planes during their bombing of sites in Syria last May, although he indicated that the incident occurred only once.