JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel is trying to decide how to deal with dozens of Russian Jewish oligarchs as Western countries tighten sanctions on businessmen linked to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
A worried Israeli government has formed a high-level committee to see how the country can maintain its status of safe haven for any Jew without violating tough sanctions against Putin’s inner circle.
Several dozen Jewish tycoons from Russia are believed to have received Israeli citizenship or residency in recent years. Many have a good working relationship with the Kremlin, and at least four — Chelsea Football Club owner Roman Abramovich, Mikhail Fridman, Pyotr Aven and Viktor Vekselberg — have faced international sanctions for alleged ties to Putin.
Israel, which has proven to be an unlikely mediator between Ukraine and Russia, has not joined the sanctions imposed by the US, the UK, the European Union and others. But as the war in Ukraine drags on and more names are added to the list, the pressure builds.
In an interview with Israel’s Channel 12 TV channel over the weekend, US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland called on Israel to join the group of countries that have imposed sanctions on Russia.
“We are asking, among other things, that every democracy in the world will join us in the financial and export control sanctions that we have imposed on Putin,” she said. “You don’t want to be the final resting place for the dirty money that fuels Putin’s wars.”
Aaron David Miller, now a retired US diplomat, tweeted that Nuland’s comments were “the hardest blow to Israeli politics since the start of the crisis, or any other politics in a very long time.”
Israel, founded as a safe haven for Jews after the Holocaust, automatically grants citizenship to any Jewish background. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union 30 years ago, about 1 million Jews from Russia and other former Soviet republics have moved to Israel. In recent years, more tycoons from the former Soviet Union have joined them.
Some, like former energy tycoon Leonid Nevzlin, came here after falling out with Putin. Others seem to have done so to insure against trouble abroad.
Abramovich, for example, took Israeli citizenship in 2018 after his British visa was not renewed, apparently as part of the British authorities’ efforts to crack down on Putin’s associates following the poisoning of a former Russian spy in England. Although he doesn’t seem to spend much time in the country, he has bought property, including a house in Tel Aviv’s trendy neighborhood that he reportedly bought from Wonder Woman actress Gal Gadot’s husband.
Some have kept a low profile, while others have embraced their Jewish roots, becoming major philanthropists in Jewish causes or investing in Israel’s cutting-edge technology sector.
Israeli media report the arrival and departure from the country of private jets belonging to the oligarchs. On Sunday evening, Channel 12 reported that one of Abramovich’s planes had arrived, though it is not clear if he was on board.
As Israel weighs its actions, Jewish organizations are already eyeing their relationship with Russian oligarchs.
Last week, Yad Vashem, Israel’s national Holocaust memorial, said it was suspending the announcement of a donation of tens of millions of dollars from Abramovich “in light of recent events.” In Ukraine, the Babi Yar Holocaust Memorial Center, built in a ravine where more than 30,000 Jews were killed in just two days in 1941, said Ukraine-born Fridman resigned from its advisory board because of sanctions.
Lior Hayat, a spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry, said the government had formed a special inter-ministerial committee to look into the issue of sanctions. The fate of the affected oligarchs is a central part of this mission.
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Yair Lapid has already advised his colleagues to stay away from the oligarchs.
“You have to be very careful because these guys have connections and they can call you on the phone and ask you something,” Lapid recently told the cabinet. “Don’t agree to anything because it could cause diplomatic damage. Say that there is nothing you can do to help them, and give me the number of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.”
His comments, first published in the Israeli media, were confirmed by officials present at the meeting. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were discussing closed cabinet meetings.
Israel, one of the few countries that has good relations with both Russia and Ukraine, may be able to insulate itself from international pressure as long as it continues to mediate between the warring parties. Joining the sanctions could draw Russia’s ire and jeopardize Israel’s unique role.
Ksenia Svetlova, an international affairs expert and former Israeli MP who was born in Russia, said Israel would refrain from taking any position for as long as possible.
“It depends on how much pressure they put on Israel,” she said. Not voluntarily, of course.