"Yair Lapid as prime minister could create problems for Israeli-Russian relations," Russian Ambassador to Israel Anatoly Viktorov allegedly said in a private conversation, Channel 12 News reported Wednesday night.
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An Israeli diplomat, speaking to Israel Hayom, called the report "baseless."
"Relations with Russia haven't changed and proper communication with the Russians was and remains intact," the diplomat added.
The spokeswoman for the Russian Embassy in Israel also denied the report.
"The ambassador never said that. As has already been clarified several times in the past, of course, we have noted several remarks and declarations made by Israeli officials in relation to the special operation in Ukraine," the spokeswoman said.
"Despite that, throughout the course of our work relationship with our Israeli partners, we've made our position on the crisis in Ukraine clear on social media, and we hope Israel chooses a more balanced and unbiased position regarding this issue," she added. "From our point of view, this would completely correlate with the deep and friendly relationship the countries have traditionally shared, and which we've built over 30 years."
Since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, Israel has maintained a particularly moderate position toward Russia, due to concerns that it could respond by seeking to limit Israel's freedom of military action in Syria and also due to concerns for the well-being of Russia's large Jewish community. Lapid, however, adopted a tougher line against the Russians during his time as foreign minister.
Following the massacre in Bucha, Lapid accused Russian forces of committing "war crimes."
"The images and testimony from Ukraine are horrific. Russian forces committed war crimes against a defenseless civilian population. I strongly condemn these war crimes," he said in a statement at the time.
Then-Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, meanwhile, condemned the killing of civilians documented in Bucha but stopped short of accusing Russian forces of responsibility.
Around one month ago, Russia reportedly ordered the Jewish Agency to halt all operations in the country amid rising tensions between Moscow and Jerusalem over the war in Ukraine.
Thus far, Israel has refused to send weapons to Ukraine or join international sanctions against Moscow, but it has voted in the UN to condemn the invasion.
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