An Israeli delegation will travel to Russia on Wednesday on Prime Minister Yair Lapid's orders in hopes of halting a Russian order to shutter the operations of the Jewish Agency in the country.
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The delegation was originally scheduled to travel to Moscow on Sunday but was delayed waiting for the members' visas to be approved by Russian authorities.
Russia has alleged that the Jewish Agency, a non-profit organizaton that works to encourage aliyah, has breached privacy laws by collecting personal information of people who are interested in immigrating to Israel. Authorities are expected to present more details in a Russian court on Thursday.
The case has stirred worries in Israel about a crisis with Russia, which is home to a large Jewish community and wields clout in next-door Syria.
"In coordination with the authorities in Russia, the Israeli delegation will leave for Moscow this evening and hold meetings with the relevant parties in the Russian system," a statement from Lapid's office said.
Some 600,000 Russians are eligible to immigrate to Israel. Officials have said there has been a rise in applications since the dispute arose over the Jewish Agency, as well as a spike since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Lapid has said the closing of the Jewish Agency's offices in Russia would be "grave, with ramifications for relations" between Jerusalem and Moscow.
Relations between the two countries have become strained in recent months after Israel condemned the Ukraine war and summoned the Russian ambassador over comments made by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov about Adolf Hitler.
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