A jet that was linked to sanctioned Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich was in Israel on Monday, according to Israeli media reports.
But Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said that Israel would not let oligarchs use the country to get around the freezing of Russian assets due to the invasion of Ukraine.
"Israel will not be a route to bypass sanctions imposed on Russia by the United States and other Western countries," Lapid said in a statement while in Slovakia, which shares a border with Ukraine.
According to Reuters, Abramovich’s jet landed at Ben Gurion Airport on Sunday. But it was not certain if Abramovich – who holds Russian, Israeli and Portuguese citizenship – was on the plane.
Abramovich has denied being a close associate of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The billionaire, who announced in early March that he was selling Britain’s Chelsea soccer team under the threat of sanctions, was one of seven oligarchs who was placed on the UK’s sanctions list on Thursday as a response to Putin’s Ukraine invasion. On Friday, the British government began impounding helicopters and jets belonging to the oligarchs.
Speaking of the Western sanctions placed on oligarchs said to be close associates of Putin, Lapid said the foreign ministry was "coordinating the issue together with partners including the Bank of Israel, the Finance Ministry, the Economy Ministry, the Airports Authority, the Energy Ministry, and others.”
In response to sanctions imposed by other countries on oligarchs, on Thursday Yad Vashem suspended its strategic partnership with Abramovich.