Some in the government assumed this weekend that there are about 500,000 Russians who can qualify for Israel’s Right of Return and become Israeli citizens, at a time when many Russians want out. But is the Jewish Agency, the official body in charge of immigration, capable of implementing a quick, efficient and large operation in Russia, a country that recommended to its court that this Jewish-Israeli organization should be considered as a foreign agent?
The answer is that it will be exponentially more difficult than it was until before the war broke out, especially in the current unstable state that Russia is in, with a rebellion within the paramilitary Wagner Group against Russian President Vladimir Putin.
As The Jerusalem Post exclusively reported a year ago, the Russian government ordered the Jewish Agency to stop all operations inside the country in a letter received from the Russian Justice Ministry. The ministry recommended that the agency be considered a foreign agent, meaning that it cannot operate in the country’s borders. The court has not yet made a decision.
Since then, the agency has been able to continue operating, but it is now being done very differently: there are way less employees since a large number of them were put on paid leave, and the whole database needed to be rebuilt, as well as a call center with information about Russia-based aliyah, instead of it being run in Israel. As well, no public events have been taking place during the trial.
The Jewish Agency in Russia has been slimmed down, making rescue aliyah to Israel a major challenge
A source in the Russian Jewish community told the Post on Sunday that the agency has become substantially smaller and less relevant, making its ability to execute a large-scale immigration operation slim, “because of all of the recent changes.” He explained that “they have been too slow in trying to cope with the amount of Jews who already are interested in aliyah, and it has been almost impossible to get an appointment at their offices.”
Nativ, a body in charge of identifying the Jewish roots of those wishing to make aliyah from Russian-speaking countries, will soon be looking for a new head, since its current director, Neta Briskin-Peleg, is expected to finish her second term in August.
The Post asked a spokesperson on behalf of Deputy Minister MK Avi Maoz (Noam), who is in charge of Nativ, if she will continue to another term. She said Nativ will be seeking a new director. Maoz, an extreme-Right politician, has spoken numerous times about the fact that he would like to make amendments in the Law of Return to not allow grandchildren of Jews, who aren’t halachically Jewish themselves, to make aliyah. Nativ hasn’t responded to the Post’s request for comment.
But the obstacles of working in Russia don’t only have to do with the Jewish Agency itself, but rather with other geo-political matters. Such an operation is only possible if Russia were to grant freedom of flight to Moscow and St. Petersburg, as well as provided that no restrictions be imposed on the citizens and or their property. Russian authorities would also need to provide landing permits.
Because of the uncertainty of the status of the agency, especially with no known date of an additional hearing in the trial, many of its activities have been put on hold. Most of the field coordinators are on paid leave and many of the local Jewish organizations have been questioning whether to collaborate with the agency. “Many of my colleagues have been saying that the Jewish Agency isn’t relevant anymore in Russia,” a source in the community said this week. As an example, they said that the participants of an Israeli program, Naaleh, that offers free high school for Diaspora youth, hasn’t yet given answers to the parents of the potential students, since the agency doesn’t want to necessarily be perceived as an organization that facilitates study in Israeli schools.
Another aspect of confusion is from the courts end: What limitations will it place on the agency in the future? A source close to the agency in Russia said that “there needs to be a proactive player on the ground promoting and facilitating aliyah, but unfortunately, the Jewish Agency will have difficulty being that proactive component since they cannot afford to be completely shut down.
Yisrael Beytenu MK Oded Forer, who chairs the Immigration, Absorption, and Diaspora Affairs Committee, said he will convene the committee today to discuss Russia-Israel immigration.
Forer, who was the director-general of the Aliyah and Integration Ministry in the past, said that “after many months in which I became aware that the policy led by the government to stop aid to immigrants from Russia and reduce the rapid immigration procedure, we can understand how this was disconnected from reality. It seems this reality is shattering in the face of the Israeli government.”
One of the criticisms that Forer has made of the government over the past few months is that Russian olim cannot access their funds from Russia while they are in Israel and many also cannot make a living in Israel when they first arrive; some Israeli banks won’t allow Russian olim to open bank accounts, and a massive ulpanim crisis – the body that teaches Hebrew language to new immigrants – is only making the process more difficult.