Last Thursday saw a tumultuous occurrence in Moscow when the Russian Justice Ministry submitted to the district court a request to ban the Jewish Agency from operating in Russia. The rationale is not so important (an alleged violation of data privacy laws), what is important is the context. A measure of this magnitude that will cast a shadow over relations between Moscow and Jerusalem could not have been decided upon without the acquiescence of the Kremlin which in the past year has already shut down foreign organizations from countries that have criticized Russia.
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The onslaught on the Jewish Agency is outrageous because official Israel made supreme efforts to maintain neutrality instead of assisting Ukraine, even after the revelation of the shocking crimes committed by the Russian invaders. Jerusalem limited itself to pale condemnations and minimal assistance for refugees. Even then, to "balance things out" a minister was sent to the Russian embassy's National Day event. In exchange, Israel received a demarche for its ambassador, pressure on the chief rabbi of Moscow to either support the war or leave, incitement concerning the disputed legal status of Russian assets in Jerusalem, and of course, the revelation by Foreign Minister Lavrov of "Hitler's Jewish origins." Now the screws are being turned on the Jewish Agency.
Why is Russia doing this? Perhaps it is an attempt to extort Israel as happened in the Naama Issachar affair, perhaps it is an attempt to maintain a reserve of potential soldiers, perhaps it is another action against "foreign agents", and perhaps all of these together. Taking into consideration the modus operandi of the decision-makers in Moscow there is not necessarily a rational explanation or a connection between Israel's actions and Moscow's "rection." The "reaction" comes even without the action as Moscow seeks to accentuate the "us and them" perception.
The big question is, will Israel finally rethinks its traditional policy of not annoying dictators in case harm arises to the Jewish populations living under those regimes. For example, Israel made an enormous effort not to annoy the Belarusian dictator Lukashenko. It maintained warm neutrality despite the horrors of the repression of 2020. It didn't say a word to condemn crimes against international law. In exchange, we received antisemitic statements and Holocaust denial reminiscent of the Soviet era. Time after time, Israel hides behind the claim of defending Jewish communities, a claim that assumes that Jews are hostages in their countries, and which, given that we are talking about foreign nationals, is any event not feasible. Time after time, Israel brings up considerations of "Realpolitik" in the name of which it is always possible to look aside in the face of injustice. Now, these ideological pillars, have transpired not to have a leg to stand on.
There are good reasons to doubt that there will be a change of approach perhaps just for the simple reason that doing so will require a rethink of Israel's place in the world, and at a deeper level, a rethink of the place of the Jewish People's place among the nations. Beneath pragmatic decisions hide hundreds of years of practical aloofness and mystical explanations about supremacy. There is also inertia put in motion by a diaspora-mentality caution that taught us not to annoy the powers be they the local landowner or nobleman or the modern nation-state. On the other hand, perhaps Russia's actions against the Jewish Agency will paradoxically lead Israel to see itself not just as a fragile haven for Jews but as a regional power. This is long overdue.
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