At least 40 Israeli citizens were detained and later released after arriving at a Moscow airport from Tel Aviv the day before, the Foreign Ministry confirmed Monday, following a Russian report on the incident.
The travelers were reportedly held on suspicion of having ties to Israel’s war against Russia’s ally, Iran. Security forces at Domodedovo Airport reportedly stressed to detainees that Iran is an ally of Russia and that anyone who is an enemy of Iran is “our enemy as well.”
“Immediately upon learning of the incident, at the instruction of Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, the Foreign Ministry acted both with the foreign ministry in Moscow and with the Russian embassy in Israel,” the ministry said in a statement.
“Following this intervention, the incident was resolved, and the Israelis’ entry was approved. The Russians were made to understand that this conduct is completely unacceptable, and Israel views the incident with great seriousness,” the ministry added.
While the ministry could not address other details of the detention, a source familiar with the incident told the independent Russian outlet Mediazone that the travelers were interrogated by Russian security forces on suspicion of being involved in Israel’s war against Iran, and held for five hours without access to food, water, or restrooms.
Those detained, among whom were both dual citizens and Israelis without Russian passports, were reportedly told to unlock their phones. When the Israelis refused, they were told to turn them off instead, the report said.
The Israeli citizens were released only after signing documents stressing the “inadmissibility of violating the law” and warning against such violations, according to the report.
Domodedovo Airport was the scene of an incident in 2019, when several Israelis were denied entry into Russia in a spat over a bilateral visa agreement. On that occasion, they were also eventually permitted to continue their journey.
Israel and the US launched their campaign against Iran on February 28, in a bid to destabilize the regime and destroy its nuclear and ballistic missile capacities.
Iran and the US reached a fragile, 10-day ceasefire that is set to expire on Wednesday, unless talks mediated by Pakistan can reach a longer-term agreement.
