- Israel has condemned Russia's war in Ukraine.
- Russia is looking to shut down a nonprofit agency that helps Jews migrate to Israel.
- The move appears to be diplomatic retaliation for Israel's stance on the war in Ukraine.
Russia's Justice Ministry is trying to shut down an interagency department that promotes immigration to Israel amid tensions between the two countries over the war in Ukraine, NBC News reported.
The move comes after Israel condemned Russia's war in Ukraine. Yair Lapid, Israel's foreign minister at the time, accused Russia of carrying out war crimes in April, the outlet reported.
The ministry filed for the dissolution of the Jewish Agency for Israel on July 15, per NBC News. Moscow's Basmanny district court sent a notice to liquidate and a hearing is scheduled for July 28, the outlet reported.
Ekaterina Buravtsova, a spokeswoman for the court, confirmed reported by Al Jazeera, citing Russian agencies, that "the court received an administrative complaint from the justice ministry's main department requesting the dissolution" of the agency.
Lapid, now Israel's foreign minister, excoriated Russia for the move in a Sunday statement. Lapid said the shutting down of the agency "would be a serious event that would affect relations."
He also ordered that a "legal delegation be prepared" to go to Moscow as soon as Russia approves talks to "make every effort to exhaust the legal dialogue," as well as diplomatic talks to resolve the issue.
Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin's spokesperson said the agency was being shut down because of a breach of "compliance with Russian legislation," but did not specify what laws were broken, NBC News reported.