Lapid instructed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to prepare proposals for political measures in response to the crisis with Russia
Barak Ravid
07/24/2022
Sunday, July 24, 2022, 6:38 p.m. Updated: 6:41 p.m.
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Prime Minister Lapid directed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at a discussion held this morning to prepare proposals for Israeli political steps in response to the crisis with Russia surrounding the activities of the Jewish Agency in the country, so they told Walla!
Two Israeli sources comment on the details of the discussion.
why is it important
In recent days, quite a few officials in the government dealing with the crisis thought that it might really be a purely legal event that is not related to the relationship between the countries.
But in the discussion convened by Lapid this morning, the understanding sharpened that this is most likely an event with a political background, so said the two Israeli sources.
Behind the Scenes
The two Israeli sources said that Israel will continue to operate on the legal field ahead of the Moscow court hearing on Thursday, but behind the scenes will prepare a basket of policy actions.
The Foreign Ministry officials were asked at a discussion convened by Lapid to prepare proposals for political measures such as stronger public statements, political negotiations with the Russians or an Israeli "political price tag" in case it is decided to stop the agency's activities in Russia.
"We need to prepare for every scenario," said an Israeli senior official.
Housing Minister Ze'ev Elkin took a firm line in the debate according to which Israel must react harshly on issues that are important to the Russians such as the future of Alexander's court in Jerusalem.
what are they saying
Prime Minister Lapid said in the debate that relations with Russia are important to Israel, but emphasized that the closing of the agency's offices would be a "serious event, which will affect relations" between the countries.
"We estimate that Putin is not satisfied with Israel, but we don't know exactly why and what he wants," said an Israeli source who participated in the discussion with Lapid.
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What next
Lapid assumed at the end of the discussion that the legal delegation would be ready to leave for Moscow as soon as the Russian approval for its arrival was received, and to make every effort to maximize the legal dialogue at the same time as continuing to promote a senior political dialogue on the issue.
However, at this stage, the Russian Ministry of Justice did not respond to the official request made by Israel and to the request to hold talks in Moscow.
The Russians have not yet granted visas to the members of the delegation.
The Israeli sources said that it is not clear whether this is a deliberate procrastination.
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Political-political
Foreign relations
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Yair Lapid
Russia