THERE SHOULD BE NO SAFE HAVEN FOR ANYONE WHO CRAWLS IN BED WITH A MURDERING DICTATOR!
Israel Considers How to Deal with Dozens of Russian-Israeli Oligarchs
JERUSALEM (AP) – Israel is grappling with how to deal with dozens of Jewish Russian oligarchs as Western nations step up sanctions on businesspeople with ties to Russia’s President Vladimir Putin.
A worried Israeli government has formed a high-level committee to see how the country can maintain its status as a haven for any Jew without running afoul of the biting sanctions targeting Putin’s inner circle.
Several dozen Jewish tycoons from Russia are believed to have taken on Israeli citizenship or residency in recent years. Many have good working relations with the Kremlin, and at least four — Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich, Mikhail Fridman, Petr Aven, and Viktor Vekselberg — have been sanctioned internationally because of their purported connections to Putin.
Israel, which has emerged as an unlikely mediator between Ukraine and Russia, has not joined the sanctions imposed by the U.S., Britain, European Union, and others. But as the war in Ukraine drags on, and other names are added to the list, the pressure is increasing.
In an interview with Israel’s Channel 12 TV station over the weekend, the U.S. Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs, Victoria Nuland, called on Israel to join the group of countries that have sanctioned Russia.
“What we are asking among other things is for every democracy around the world to join us in the financial and export control sanctions that we have put on Putin,” she said. “You don’t want to become the last haven for dirty money that’s fueling Putin’s wars.”
Aaron David Miller, a now-retired veteran U.S. diplomat, said on Twitter that Nuland’s comments were the “toughest battering of Israeli policy since crisis began or of any policy in very long while.”
Israel, founded as a haven for Jews in the wake of the Holocaust, grants automatic citizenship to anyone of Jewish descent. Since the disintegration of the Soviet Union 30 years ago, an estimated 1 million Jews from Russia and other former Soviet republics have moved to Israel. In recent years, a growing number of tycoons from the former Soviet Union have joined them.
Some, such as former energy magnate Leonid Nevzlin, came after falling out with Putin. Others appeared to have done so as hedges against trouble abroad.
Abramovich, for instance, took Israeli citizenship in 2018 after his British visa was not renewed, apparently as part of British authorities’ efforts to crack down on Putin associates after a former Russian spy was poisoned in England. Although he appears to spend little time in the country, he has bought some choice real estate, including a home in a trendy Tel Aviv neighbourhood reportedly purchased from the husband of Wonder Woman actress Gal Gadot.
Some have kept low public profiles, while others have embraced their Jewish roots, emerging as major philanthropists to Jewish causes or investing in Israel’s high-flying technology sector.
Israeli media have reported private jets belonging to oligarchs coming in and out of the country in recent days. Channel 12 said late Sunday that one of Abramovich’s planes had arrived, though it was unclear if he was onboard.
While Israel weighs its moves, Jewish organizations already are taking a closer look at their relations with Russian oligarchs.
Last week, Yad Vashem, Israel’s national Holocaust memorial, said it was suspending a reported donation of tens millions of dollars from Abramovich “in light of recent developments.” In Ukraine, the Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Center, built at the ravine where over 30,000 Jews were massacred in just two days in 1941, said that Fridman, who was born in Ukraine, had resigned from its advisory board due to the sanctions.
Lior Haiat, spokesman for Israel’s Foreign Ministry, said the government has formed a special inter-ministerial committee to study the sanctions issue. The fate of affected oligarchs is a central part of that mission.
In the meantime, Foreign Minister Yair Lapid has already advised his colleagues to keep their distance from the oligarchs.
“You have to be very careful because those guys have connections and they can call you on the phone and ask you for things,” Lapid recently told the Cabinet. “Don’t commit to anything because it could cause diplomatic damage. Say you can’t help them and give them the number of the Foreign Ministry.”
His comments, first reported in Israeli media, were confirmed by officials who attended the meeting. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were discussing closed Cabinet proceedings.
Israel, one of the few countries that has good relations with both Russia and Ukraine, may be able to insulate itself from the international pressure as long as it continues to mediate between the warring sides. Joining the sanctions would risk drawing Russian ire and jeopardize Israel’s unique role.
Ksenia Svetlova, an international-affairs expert and former Israeli lawmaker born in Russia, said Israel would hold out from taking a stance as long as possible.
“It depends on what kind of pressure they will exercise against Israel,” she said. “Not voluntarily, certainly.”
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Seize Russian oligarch mansions to house Ukrainian refugees: Michael Gove demands 'ultimate payback for Putin's cronies' as No10 pledges £350 a month for Brits who take in people fleeing Russia's war
- The Levelling Up Secretary wants to seize luxury mansions from Russian oligarchs to house Ukrainians
- No.10 has confirmed that families who take in Ukrainian refugees will be paid £350-a-month to do so
- More than 2.3million people have now fled Ukraine since Vladimir Putin's forces invaded on February 24
Russian oligarchs’ multi-million pound mansions would be seized and used to house Ukrainian refugees under an extraordinary plan being championed by Michael Gove.
The Levelling Up Secretary has argued passionately in Cabinet that the move would be ‘payback’ for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s cronies in Britain.
His plan is being blocked by senior figures in the Treasury and the Foreign Office who believe it is ‘not legally workable’, but one supporter of the Gove scheme last night angrily described opponents within Government as ‘oligarch apologists’.
The row came as No 10 announced that ordinary families who house Ukrainian refugees will be paid £350 a month under a new ‘Homes for Ukraine’ scheme.
It’s hoped that tens of thousands of people will be accommodated under the scheme, helping to tackle Europe’s biggest refugee crisis since the Second World War. More than 2.3 million people have fled the war in Ukraine and another 1.9 million are displaced within the country, a United Nations official has said.
The plans come after the Home Office was heavily criticised for its ‘chaotic’ response to the humanitarian disaster.
In contrast, the British people have acted quickly and generously to help. The record-breaking Mail Force Ukraine Appeal has reached a remarkable £6.6 million alone.
In another grim day in Ukraine yesterday:
- Kyiv became a fortress ahead of an expected onslaught, with Russian forces now within 15 miles of the capital’s centre;
- Russian shelling of besieged cities including Kharkiv, Mykolaiv, Dnipro and Sumy continued as one governor said the South-Eastern city of Volnovakha has been destroyed;
- Putin rebuffed a new appeal for a ceasefire but, in a glimmer of hope, negotiators discussed ‘concrete’ proposals for a peace deal for first time as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he was willing to negotiate, but would not surrender nor accept ultimatums;
- Zelensky revealed 1,300 Ukrainian troops have died in the war so far, but claimed the Russian army has suffered its largest losses in decades, with an estimated 6,000 deaths;
- Moscow threatened the West that any military shipments to Ukraine will be seen as ‘legitimate targets’, prompting fears the conflict could dramatically escalate;
- Putin was urged to lift the siege of the southern city of Mariupol where up to 1,500 civilians have died;
- Residents took to the streets of the occupied city of Melitopol to protest against the abduction of its mayor by Russian forces;
- Intelligence sources claimed Putin may be suffering from dementia, Parkinson’s disease or ‘roid rage’ resulting from steroid treatment for cancer.
More than 2.3 million people have fled the war in Ukraine and another 1.9 million are displaced within the country
Mr Gove, who first raised the prospect of seizing oligarchs’ homes in Cabinet a fortnight ago, ran into opposition last week at the first meeting of a sub-committee looking into the UK’s refugee response. At the meeting, Foreign Office Minister James Cleverly and Treasury Minister John Glen expressed their departments’ reservations about the idea.
Last night, a backer of Mr Gove’s plan said: ‘The opposition is being led by oligarch apologists who hide behind the rule of law.’ But one of Mr Gove’s opponents said the plan is ‘not legally workable’ and condemned it as ‘gesture politics more suited to a banana republic’.
Under the ‘Homes for Ukraine’ scheme, sponsors who provide accommodation rent-free for a minimum of six months will receive a ‘thank you’ of £350 per month, however many refugees they take. Sponsored refugees will be granted three years leave to remain in the UK and be allowed to work and access public services.
Mr Gove said: ‘The crisis in Ukraine has sent shockwaves across the world. The UK stands behind Ukraine in their darkest hour and the British public understand the need to get as many people to safety as quickly as we can. I urge people across the country to join the national effort and offer support to our Ukrainian friends.’
A website will launch tomorrow to allow sponsors to register offers of accommodation. Those applying will be vetted and Ukrainians will undergo security checks. However, as The Mail on Sunday reports today, security chiefs have expressed concern at watering down visa requirements.
Home Secretary Priti Patel has been criticised over the slow rate of approval of visas for Ukrainian refugees, prompting Boris Johnson to demand an end to ‘hostile leaks’ from within her department.
But many organisations are already stepping up, such as London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital, which is set to receive ten children with cancer after they were whisked out of Ukraine in an extraordinary rescue mission.
Meanwhile, Chelsea Football Club was thrown a lifeline by the Government yesterday as officials agreed it could be sold by its sanctioned owner Roman Abramovich.
And amid calls for Chancellor Rishi Sunak to cut fuel duty as the price of oil spirals because of the sanctions, Mr Johnson is set to travel to Saudi Arabia in an attempt to negotiate increased supplies.
Tomorrow the PM will host leaders of the Joint Expeditionary Force, a Northern European security coalition, at Chequers.
Cabinet split over Michael Gove's plan to seize Russian oligarch mansions to house Ukrainian refugees, as critics brand the idea 'gesture politics more suited to a banana republic'
By Glen Owen Political Editor for the Mail on Sunday
When Michael Gove launched into some of his typically rousing rhetoric at Cabinet last month, calling passionately for the mansions of Russian oligarchs to be seized and opened up to Ukrainian refugees, Boris Johnson murmured his assent.
But a fortnight later, the Levelling Up Secretary is still fighting to overcome resistance to his idea from the Treasury and Foreign Office, where officials shiver at what one source dismissed as ‘banana republic politics’.
For their part, supporters of Mr Gove’s plan describe the opponents as ‘oligarch apologists’.
The debate flared up again last week at the first meeting of a Cabinet sub-committee on Ukraine, chaired by Downing Street’s chief of staff Steve Barclay, which has been tasked with examining ‘every facet’ of the UK’s refugee response. When Mr Gove highlighted the powerful symbolism of his proposed move, Foreign Office Minister James Cleverly and Treasury Minister John Glen voiced their departments’ reservations.
Under Mr Gove’s plan, British property owned by oligarchs sanctioned because of the war would be taken over by the Government for as long as they remained on the list, allowing Ministers to throw open their doors to refugees.
In the case of Roman Abramovich, Britain’s most high-profile oligarch, that would release at least 70 properties, worth around £500 million, The portfolio includes a 15-bedroom mansion at Kensington Palace Gardens with an estimated value of £150 million, and a three-storey penthouse in the Chelsea Waterfront tower, bought for £30 million in 2018. Abramovich had his assets – including Chelsea FC – frozen on Thursday as part of Government sanctions.
Roman Abramovich's portfolio includes a 15-bedroom mansion at Kensington Palace Gardens (pictured) with an estimated value of £150 million, and a three-storey penthouse in the Chelsea Waterfront tower, bought for £30 million in 2018
Sutton Place near Guildford, Surrey, England is the former home of billionaire Jean Paul Getty and now owned by a Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov
Another sanctioned oligarch, aluminium tycoon Oleg Deripaska, worth £2 billion, owns a £50 million property on Belgrave Square in Central London, via a company registered in the British Virgin Islands, and Hamstone House on the exclusive St George’s Hill estate near Weybridge, Surrey. The eight-bedroom mansion includes a swimming pool, sauna, gym and extensive gardens.
Mr Gove’s plan echoes moves by the US Congress to seize assets from oligarchs whose wealth is linked to Vladimir Putin. Under a bill introduced earlier this month, American authorities would be allowed to go further than Mr Gove’s plan by confiscating, rather than just seizing, any property – including luxury villas, yachts, and airplanes – valued more than $5 million with the funds used to benefit the Ukrainian people via military or humanitarian aid.
Supporters of Mr Gove’s plan also point the finger at No 10’s new head of policy, Andrew Griffith, for trying to block it. Mr Griffith, the Arundel MP, is a former Rothschild banker and chief financial officer for Sky TV, who is understood to have argued that the idea is not ‘legally workable’.
Another sanctioned oligarch, aluminium tycoon Oleg Deripaska, worth £2 billion, owns a £50 million property on Belgrave Square in Central London, via a company registered in the British Virgin Islands, and Hamstone House on the exclusive St George’s Hill estate near Weybridge, Surrey (pictured)
An opponent of the Gove plan said: ‘This is gesture politics more suited to a banana republic’.
But a supporter said: ‘The opposition is being led by oligarch apologists who hide behind the rule of law. These people have been sanctioned for a reason, and no one who has been placed on the sanctions list has ever come off it. This is the ultimate symbolic payback for Putin’s cronies.’
Downing Street declined to comment and a spokesman for Mr Gove said: ‘We don’t comment on private Cabinet discussions.’
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