Translated material
Courtyard of Discord
Two Israeli prime ministers will visit Moscow - almost former and almost future
“The decision to transfer the Sergievsky Metochion in Jerusalem to the ownership of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission was made at the highest level; only the decision of the High Court of Justice (HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE) of Israel can stop it,” the Israeli Foreign Ministry told Vremya Novostei. Moreover, the Foreign Ministry assured that the transfer of the farmstead to the Russians, which was supposed to take place in July, will definitely happen, “it’s only a matter of time.”The delay is apparently due to the fact that opponents of the deal have become more active in Israel. In August, the High Court already rejected one claim from the Nature Conservation Society, which occupies part of the premises of the Sergievsky courtyard. The society demanded that the deal be cancelled. On Tuesday, September 2, deputies of the parliament of the Jewish state also demanded additional clarification from the Israeli Foreign Ministry regarding the transfer of lands. They were interested in what Israel would receive for the given lands. However, according to Israeli diplomats, protests “can only delay the transfer of the Sergievsky metochion, but not cancel it.”
However, these protests could negatively affect Russian-Israeli relations, which have already cooled due to the Jewish state's sale of weapons to Georgia. It’s no wonder that a whole force of Israeli officials intends to land in Moscow this month to improve the situation. Already on September 15, according to VN, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will arrive in Russia on a visit. If the visit takes place, it will be Olmert's last trip abroad as prime minister. The first round of internal party elections is scheduled for September 17 in the ruling Kadima party. Olmert, 62, did not put forward his candidacy. The new leader of Kadima will automatically become the new prime minister.
Olmert's spontaneous visit to Russia forced another Israeli leader, former prime minister and now opposition leader, 58-year-old Benjamin Netanyahu, to postpone the trip to Moscow to a later date. He was planning to visit the Russian capital on September 11, but was forced to postpone the visit to the end of the month. Netanyahu's popularity in Israel is now high, and many political scientists predict him the post of future prime minister. The next parliamentary elections in Israel are due to take place in 2010. So we can say that two prime ministers will visit Russia in one month - the one retiring and the one most likely in the future.
In Israel, whose population is just over 7 million people, there are more than 1 million Russian-speaking citizens. A visit to Russia will increase Netanyahu’s rating on the so-called “Russian street.” But the current Israeli Prime Minister has a much more difficult task. In addition to the Sergievsky courtyard, the issue of the transfer of which Olmert personally oversees, the prime minister will have to talk about weapons in Moscow. According to the influential Arabic newspaper Al-Hayat, published in London, the purpose of Olmert’s hasty visit to Moscow is an attempt to dissuade Russia from selling a large shipment of weapons to Syria. The newspaper notes that Moscow’s position has become a stumbling block in indirect negotiations between Syria and Israel carried out through international mediators.
However, not only Israelis go to Moscow. Tomorrow a Russian-Israeli business forum dedicated to nanotechnology will take place in Israel. A large delegation headed by the General Director of the Russian Nanotechnology Corporation Leonid Melamed and the ex-head of RAO UES of Russia Anatoly Chubais flew to it from Moscow. In a conversation with VN, the forum organizers noted that in Israel they are not pursuing political, but exclusively practical goals related to the “commercialization of nanotechnological developments.”