The hearing in the trial against the Jewish Agency in Russia will resume tomorrow (Wednesday) in the Moscow court.
There is uncertainty in Jerusalem regarding the resumption of the trial, despite the fact that after the previous discussion there was optimism and a feeling that the crisis is getting closer to a solution.
"Russia's situation has become more difficult since the last debate, because of the series of defeats against Ukraine and the announcement of general conscription that caused a mass flight from the country," a political source told Israel Hayom.
"It is impossible to know how all this will affect the attitude towards the agency."
On September 19, the court in Moscow responded to the request of the agency's attorneys, and granted another month's delay in the legal proceedings against it.
In Jerusalem, as mentioned, they were satisfied with the ruling and saw it as a positive sign.
"We asked for the postponement in order to correct the activities of the 'Ano' association, which consolidates the agency's activities in Russia, so that it conforms to the local law," a political official told Israel Hayom at the time.
"The fact that the Russians responded to this is an indication that they are open to the idea of continuing the agency's activities in the country."
Russian nervousness
Since then, as mentioned, there have been developments that apparently do not directly concern the matter, but may certainly affect it.
At the beginning of the week, former Russian President Dimitri Medvedev warned Israel, saying that if it supplies weapons to Ukraine, it will "destroy relations between the countries."
In Jerusalem they clarified that there is no intention to cancel the arms embargo on Kyiv, but Medvedev's words reflect Russian nervousness.
Russia even refuses Israel's requests to increase the number of flights between Tel Aviv and Moscow, apparently to make it more difficult for citizens to leave the country.
The Russians are not happy with the brain drain.
Putin, photo: AFP
The procedure against the agency began when the Russian Ministry of Justice asked the court to shut down its activities on the grounds that it "illegally collects information about Russian citizens."
On the other hand, in Israel they claimed that it was trivial information such as identity card numbers, phone numbers and email addresses of Jews who showed interest in immigrating to Israel or in other activities of the agency in Russia.
The working assumption in Jerusalem was that the crisis was based on the political considerations of the Kremlin, and not necessarily the official legal considerations.
One hypothesis was that Moscow is not satisfied with the Israeli position regarding the war in Ukraine.
Other possible reasons that have been raised are dissatisfaction with the IDF's activities in Syria, and perhaps even frustration with the delay in transferring the Alexander Court complex in Jerusalem to Russian sovereignty.
In addition, in Jerusalem they raised the possibility that the Russians are not satisfied with the brain drain as a result of the activities of the Agency for Encouraging Immigration to Israel.
Russia has been suffering from this phenomenon for years, and it was aggravated after the outbreak of the war in Ukraine.
Now, after the announcement of reservists for the Russian army and the mass flight from the country of potential recruits, this consideration may become even more significant for the Russians.
Throughout the crisis, at the same time as the open legal channel, diplomatic officials worked behind the scenes in an attempt to reach a compromise, including Prime Minister Lapid and President Herzog.
With the outbreak of the crisis, Lapid made it clear that the closure of the agency's activity in Russia would have significant consequences for relations between the countries.
Lapid, who also serves as foreign minister, even ordered the creation of a team in the ministry to formulate possible responses to Russian actions against the agency.
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