TEL AVIV, July 24. /TASS/. Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid held an interdepartmental meeting on Sunday, focusing on the possible closure of the Jewish Agency for Israel in Russia.
Yair Lapid emphasized at the meeting the importance of relations with Russia for the Jewish state, noting that the possible liquidation of the agency in Russia would seriously affect relations between the two countries, the Prime Minister’s Office reported.
"The Prime Minister said that the relations with Russia are important for Israel, and that the large Jewish community in Russia is important and is brought up in all diplomatic discourse with the administration in Moscow. Closing the Jewish Agency offices would be a serious event that would affect relations," the press release said.
Representatives from a number of Israeli ministers and agencies took part in the meeting, including Minister of Aliyah and Integration Pnina Tamano Shata, Finance Minister Avigdor Liberman and Minister of Construction and Housing Zeev Elkin.
"The Prime Minister instructed the legal delegation to be prepared to depart for Moscow as soon as the Russian approval for talks is received and to make every effort to exhaust the legal dialogue alongside advancing the high-level diplomatic dialogue on the issue," the release said.