Employees of the Jewish agency "Sokhnut" in Moscow said that their conversations with those who applied for repatriation were tapped. According to employees of the Moscow office of the agency, during one of the conversations, the security forces interrupted the call and accused the Sokhnut employee of violating privacy laws. It is reported by The Jerusalem Post.
This happened against the backdrop of an increase in the number of applications for repatriation. Israeli institutions report that the number of people wishing to leave has more than doubled in recent weeks. About 35,000 Jews from Russia have filled out forms and are awaiting repatriation, according to the Nativ Agency, Israel's bureau for relations with Jews in Russia and the former Soviet Union.
On July 25, the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation sent letters to several Jewish organizations in Russia stating that they could be declared "foreign agents." According to The Jerusalem Post, the organizations that received the letters receive funding primarily from Israel and the United States and could face forced closure. Letters were received only by organizations with foreign funding.
The publication noted that the Sokhnut agency received the same “letter of threats” at the beginning of the month. On July 21, it became known that the Ministry of Justice had filed a lawsuit demanding the liquidation of Sokhnut in Russia. The Basmanny Court of Moscow will consider the claim on July 28.
Sokhnut plans to transfer the activities of its Moscow office to Israel and online.
