Russia has expelled an Israeli diplomat. According to FSB, he exceeded his authority, agitating Russians to leave the country. However, the Foreign Ministry of the Jewish state believed that the reason for the expulsion of the diplomat was a spy activity.

Last week, the 58-year-old Polishchuk was detained and interrogated by the FSB. During the meeting, members of Russia’s security service strongly recommended diplomat in the shortest time to leave the country.

Voluntary exile

To avoid scandal, he left the country voluntarily. The representative of the Foreign Ministry of Israel Yossi Levy said that from the Russian authorities have been no complaints on the activities of Polishchuk. On Wednesday, September 30, the diplomat started to work in the Israeli office “Nativ”.

Shmuel Polishchuk was born in Ukraine and immigrated to Israel in 1979. He worked many years in the “Nativ”, and in the past his name was not associated with any scandals.

The reason for the expulsion

So far, it is not clear what was the reason for expulsion. According to the official version, the diplomat had exceeded its authority. It is alleged that the FSB is considered that Polishchuk too zealously agitating the citizens of Russia to move to permanent residence in Israel.

However, according to an unnamed source in the Foreign Ministry of the Jewish state, intelligence agencies do not have anything against such a campaign. The reason why, on which was sent to the Chief Consul “Nativ”, it is traditional - the accusation of spying. “Russia’s government did not confirm the fact that diplomat traveled around the country, gathering various information, which is then transmitted to the Jewish state”, - said the anonymous interlocutor Maariv. Earlier, Russia has repeatedly stated that the activities of “Nativ” on our territory is contrary to the spirit of the co bilateral relations with Israel.

Intergovernmental Negotiations

Although this incident took place on September 24, but it became known only now. Publication prepared based on Maariv’s material was postponed by order of the Israeli censorship. In Russia the press about the expulsion is also no mention.

The Israeli edition suggests that this is due to held on the eve of the Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, the Vice-Premier Viktor Zubkov. Perhaps the Jewish state authorities tried to hush up the spy scandal, which could complicate the negotiations.

Organization “Nativ”

“Nativ” ( “Lishkat a-Kesher”) - Bureau for Relations with the Jews of the USSR and Eastern Europe (now the Bureau for Relations with the Jews of the CIS and Baltic countries). The word “Nativ” translated from Hebrew means “path, the path”.

“Nativ” - an Israeli state institution, founded in 1952 on the initiative of David Ben-Gurion, one of the founders of the Foreign Intelligence Reuven Shilloahom. The original aim of “Nativ” was to help Jews living in the socialist camp, in their struggle for the right to leave their historic homeland.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, “Nativ” was repeatedly criticized for the fact that he is engaged in activities which should deal with other government agencies (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Education) or non-governmental organization (the Jewish Agency and others). Recognizing the critical role played by the “Nativ” in the renaissance of Jewish identity and the struggle for the repatriation of Jews in Eastern Europe, the leaders of Israel since the mid 1990’s. repeatedly created a commission on the evaluation of the “Nativ” and its reorganization. As a result, “Nativ” was formally removed from the security services. Nevertheless, in Russia, “Nativ” consider division of the Mossad.