Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has been trying to obtain permission for the establishment of the cultural center in Russia’s third-largest city. The center would be run by Nativ, the bureau engaged in promoting Aliyah and other Jewish concepts among Russian Jewry. However, because Nativ was once an intelligence-gathering organization, Russia has said no.
Haaretz reports that the latest refusal came this week when Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met in Israel with his Israeli counterpart, Lieberman. Though Lieberman guaranteed Lavrov that Nativ is not involved in any espionage work in Russia, and said the goal is only to prevent assimilation of Jews, Lavrov turned him down."
