INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
A Russian crackdown on the agency that processes the immigration of Jews to Israel is a response to new Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid's
tougher stance on Russia's invasion of Ukraine, analysts said Friday.On Thursday, a Moscow court said the Justice Ministry had requested the
"dissolution" of the Jewish Agency over unspecified legal violations and set a hearing for July 28.Lapid vowed to act through "diplomatic
channels" to ensure the semi-governmental agency's continued operation, with an Israeli delegation to visit Moscow next week to discuss the
matter and underline the close links between the Russian Jewish community and Israel.Other government ministers were less diplomatic, with
Diaspora Affairs Minister Nachman Shai accusing Moscow of punitive action over Israel's stance on the war in Ukraine."Russian Jews will not
be held hostage by the war in Ukraine," he tweeted on Thursday."The attempt to punish the Jewish Agency for Israel's stance on the war is
The Jews of Russia cannot be detached from their historical and emotional connection to the State of Israel."Ties between Russia and Israel
have deteriorated since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb
24, a move condemned by the Israeli government.Israel underlined its good relations with both countries but Lapid, who was foreign minister
at the time before his elevation to the premiership on July 1, said Russia had committed "a grave violation of the international order."And
just last week, during a visit by U.S
President Joe Biden, Lapid condemned "Russia's unjustified invasion of Ukraine," saying that "in order to protect freedom, sometimes force
must be used."Warning to LapidTo Ksenia Svetlova, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, while the Russian move is part of a wider move
against foreign and civil society organizations that began before the Ukraine invasion, it is also a clear warning to Lapid."It's a move not
just against the Jewish Agency and Jewish community, but against the prime minister of Israel," said Svetlova, who herself immigrated to
Israel from Moscow as a teenager.According to Svetlova, a former member of the Israeli parliament who is director of the Israel-Mideast
program of the Mitvim think tank, the Russian move could also be an attempt to strengthen former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu ahead of
President Volodymyr Zelensky criticized Israel for not imposing sanctions on Russia.But as former Israeli ambassador to the United States
Michael Oren pointed out, "we're not letting anyone violate the sanctions from our territory.""Israel is not entirely neutral anymore on
Ukraine," he said, noting the helmets, flak jackets and other humanitarian aid the Jewish state has been supplying.To Oren, who was a deputy
minister in the prime minister's office, the Russian move against the Jewish Agency was less about immigration and more about Middle East
geopolitics."The major issue is not the Jewish Agency programs but of our ability to maneuver freely in Syria, and Russia threatens to do
something against us in Syria all the time," he said.But given that Russia has no interest in clashing with Israel in Syria, "this is an
easier way of expressing displeasure, on the Jewish Agency programs," he said.According to Svetlova, Israel's ties with Moscow have been
about protecting Russian Jewry, while preventing arms sales to Iran.The isolation facing Russia pushed it towards Iran, with the recent
