Russian new law may make Israeli organizations 'foreign agents'

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The Moscow Times reported that Russia expanded its definition of "foreign agents" to include "those who take part in any activity that authorities determine goes against Russia’s national interests or who receive support of any kind, not just money, from abroad."

The Jerusalem Post indicated that "Jewish representatives from the Jewish Agency or representatives of international Jewish organizations may be categorized as 'foreign agents'."

According to the new Russian law, "Anyone who has worked with a 'foreign agent' or received funding from one will be included in a new Justice Ministry list of people and groups 'affiliated with foreign agents.'"

On Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the law on foreign agents that stipulates the creation of a unified register of individuals affiliated with them, according to the official legal information portal.

An individual will be considered affiliated with foreign agents if they are currently or have previously been a part of an organization of the foreign agents, whether they were its founder, member, participant, director, or worker.

Under the law, a person affiliated with foreign agents is an individual who is a political activist and who receives (or did so in the past) financing from foreign agents, including through third parties, for political activities.

It is noted that the restrictions on foreign agents do not apply to the people affiliated with them. This unified register will be supervised by the Ministry of Justice of Russia.

JPost: Russian officials investigating the Jewish Agency

Last week, the Jerusalem Post claimed that for the past three years, Russian officials have been investigating the Jewish Agency and closely examining its information and hardware.

The Israeli newspaper website revealed that the Russian Justice Ministry sent the Jewish Agency a list of violations of the law and the consequences of these violations.

The newspaper quoted a senior Israeli diplomatic official as saying that “Russia has claimed that the Jewish Agency illegally collected information about Russian citizens.”

According to the Jerusalem Post, "The fear is that if the Agency has already been under investigation, the new law will create an impossible situation for Jewish and Israeli organizations to work in Russia."

Last week, the Russian Ministry pointed out that the agency officials in Russia have violated the law by sharing the information gathered with its offices in Al-Quds or with the Israeli occupation government's offices.

The Ministry stressed that the agency should respond to the allegations, warning that it may have to cease activities in Russia if found guilty of the charges.

This comes amid growing tension between the Israeli occupation and Russia over "Tel Aviv's" support for Kiev and its leader, Volodymyr Zelensky, in the ongoing war in Ukraine.