Thread by @RussellSieg

Israel gonna have to choose: join the West or Putin's kleptocracy

Not Both
washingtonpost.com/world/2022/03/…

"At least 14 rented private planes have departed from Moscow and landed at Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport in the past 12 days, Channel 12 News reported Saturday."
archive.ph/ECTvK

Going to ground 😏

“Some of them have arrived, not with their own planes, & are staying at the houses of their spouses, their friends,” Elise Brezis, director of Azrieli Center for Economic Policy at Bar-Ilan U. in central Israel, said of Russian oligarchs landing in the country

Israel been up to no good for years

"A number of wealthy Russian Jews applied for Israeli citizenship after Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, in part to evade resulting US sanctions."

😖

"In Israel, they benefited from a law exempting new immigrants from declaring or paying taxes on income for 10 years. The law was used as a loophole for int'l money laundering & transformed seaside cities such as Tel Aviv, Caesarea & Herzliya into playgrounds for ultrarich"

Almost as bad as #Londongrad

"These businessmen — including Abramovich and billionaire banker Mikhail Fridman — not only have Israeli passports, but also often own luxury villas and maintain political ties and status as high-level donors and investors in the Israeli economy."

"Abramovich, who was placed last week on a UK gov't sanctions list, acquired Israeli citizenship in 2018. In late Feb., as Russian troops encroached on Ukraine’s borders, Abramovich made an “eight-figure” donation to Yad Vashem, Israel’s official Holocaust memorial & museum"

Leonid Nevzlin, a Russian-Israeli billionaire who is critical of Russian President Vladimir Putin and the businessmen in his orbit, said Abramovich and others became “Jewish philanthropists, let’s say not from the bottom of their heart, but for protection worldwide.”

"Brezis said officials last week agreed, on the question of oligarchs, Israel will officially “say nothing, because our situation is not simple.”

Israel is walking a diplomatic tightrope on Ukraine: It has pledged support for Kyiv, while avoiding direct criticism of Putin."

I don't think that's the only reason..

"Russia has a large military presence in Syria on Israel’s northern border, & for years, Putin has unofficially allowed Israel to carry out attacks on targets it says are involved in transfer of weapons to Lebanese militant group Hezbollah"

But without official directives from the Bank of Israel on how to navigate the sanctions, individual Israeli banks have had to scramble to formulate their own policies, said an Israeli finance official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive subject.

Bank Hapoalim, one of Israel’s largest banks, said only on its website that “in light of the sanctions … there may be disruptions in money transfers to and from Russia and Ukraine.”

“Because Israel has not joined the sanctions, there is an unclear status for sanctioned oligarchs in Israel, which means that Israel could be in trouble in terms of international law,” said Zvi Magen, who served as Israeli ambassador to both Russia and Ukraine in the 1990s.

In an interview with Channel 12 News on Friday, Victoria Nuland, the U.S. undersecretary of state for political affairs, warned that Israel didn’t want “to become the last haven for dirty money that’s fueling Putin’s wars.”