Shmuel Polischuk Israeli spy Country: Israel

Biography of Shmuel Polischuk

Shmuel Polischuk was an Israeli spy who worked as a consul for the state organization 'Nativ' in Russia. Born in Chernivtsi, Ukraine in 1951, Polischuk played a crucial role in establishing connections with the Jewish diaspora in Russia and Eastern Europe. 'Nativ' operated under the authority of the Prime Minister's Office and was originally created as a special service, although it did not have formal permission to engage in intelligence activities. Its responsibilities included establishing contacts with Jews in the CIS and Baltic countries and addressing issues related to their repatriation to Israel.

Polischuk served as the First Secretary of the Israeli Embassy in the Russian Federation and actively fought for the rights of Jews to repatriate to Israel. He himself was repatriated in 1979. However, he was accused by the Federal Security Service (FSB) of exceeding his authority and engaging in overly active propaganda to encourage Russian Jews to repatriate. Additionally, Polischuk faced allegations of espionage.

After being interrogated by the FSB for three hours on September 24, 2009, Polischuk voluntarily left Russian territory. The official version stated that the incident would not be made public, and the Russian government did not make any official statements to the Israeli embassy or declare the expelled consul persona non grata. In turn, the Israeli government committed to conducting a thorough evaluation of Polischuk's work in Russia.

According to reports from Interfax, Israeli authorities officially denied the information that Polischuk was expelled from the Russian Federation on charges of attempted espionage. The embassy stated that he had been working in 'Nativ' for many years and had never been involved in intelligence activities. The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs considered the accusation of espionage against the consul to be a provocation aimed at exacerbating relations between the two countries on the eve of the official visit of Russian Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov to Israel.

Currently, Russian and Israeli media have not received permission to publish information about the expulsion of the consul, as the circumstances surrounding Polischuk's departure from Russia are still being investigated.