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Israel-Moldova relations

Librarian Olga Sivak holds up a newspaper from 1913, Bessarabian Life, at the Jewish Museum of Moldova in Chișinău. (Photo by Larry Luxner via JTA)
September 23, 2025, 4:44 pm
Most Moldovan Jews fled decades ago. Local Jewish life is now fueled by their descendants
Decimated by pogroms, the Holocaust and years of Soviet rule, the small but tenacious community is coping with antisemitism, poverty and an influx of refugees from neighboring Ukraine
By Larry Luxner
Jewish visitors seen in the street of Uman, ahead of the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah, September 30, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/ Flash90/ File)
September 8, 2025, 12:37 pm
Annual Uman pilgrimage faces obstacles as Israel-Moldova talks break down
Costly plan for ad hoc terminal near Chisinau airport falls through after Moldova demands to keep Israeli-financed equipment; Israel now plans to charter flights to Romania, Poland
By ToI Staff
Moldova's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mihai Popsoi in Jerusalem, May 29, 2025 (Lazar Berman/The Times of Israel)
June 1, 2025, 10:42 am
Opening of Israel’s new Chisinau embassy already showing results, says Moldova’s FM
Speaking to The Times of Israel in Jerusalem, Mihai Popsoi calls for deeper defense, agricultural, tourism ties; country’s ascension to the EU expected to add to pro-Israel bloc
By Lazar Berman
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar, left, with Moldova Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mihai Popsoi, inaugurates Israel's first ever embassy in Moldova, February 4, 2025. (Shlomi Amsalem/GPO)
February 4, 2025, 8:20 pm
After over 30 years of ties, Israel opens its first embassy in Moldova
FM Sa’ar, in Chisinau for ceremony, hails ‘milestone’ in relations, warns that Turkey’s regional aspirations need to be watched
By Stuart Winer
Protesters at an Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign demonstration in Dublin on November 17, 2012 (Peter Muhly/AFP)
December 15, 2024, 7:33 pm
Israel to close its embassy in Dublin due to Ireland’s ‘extreme anti-Israel policy’
Irish PM calls move ‘deeply regrettable’; FM Sa’ar announces new embassy in Moldova, says Israel ‘giving weight’ to countries that are ‘interested in strengthening ties’
By Lazar Berman and ToI Staff
Video screenshot from X of widespread littering around Romania’s Bacău "George Enescu" International Airport, October, 2024. (Used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
October 14, 2024, 3:26 pm
Jewish pilgrims returning from Uman leave piles of trash at Romanian airport
Images on social media show widespread littering, long lines, clashes with police in Bacău airport, as some passengers say local authorities ‘made it impossible’ to fly home
By ToI Staff
Jewish pilgrims arrive in Uman, Ukraine ahead of the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah, September 14, 2023. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
June 23, 2024, 4:58 pm
Moldova, Ukraine warn new Israeli travel rules threaten visa-free regimes
New requirement for visitors to obtain a so-called Electronic Travel Authorization could prompt Chisinau, Kyiv to implement ‘reciprocal decisions,’ say ambassadors
By Sam Sokol
Ilan Shor meets with supporters during a campaign event in the city of Comrat on February 15, 2019. (Daniel Mihailescu/AFP)
June 21, 2023, 6:05 pm
Moldova outlaws pro-Russia party led by oligarch living in Israel
Chisinau’s pro-European government has accused Ilan Shor, who fled the country in 2019 and is under US sanctions for alleged corruption, of trying to overthrow it
By AFP
This combination of photos shows Shas MK Yinon Azoulay (L) and Yisrael Beytenu party leader Avigdor Liberman. (Olivier Fitoussi and Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
June 1, 2023, 11:01 pm
After Shas MK mocks Liberman’s Moldovan origin, envoy protests ‘ignoramus’ remark
Ambassador responds with ‘extreme dismay’ to Yinon Azoulay’s mention of his country ‘in a negative connotation’ while feuding with Yisrael Beytenu leader
By Alexander Fulbright
Ilan Shor, then-mayor of the town of Orhei, Moldova, arrives to meet with supporters during a campaign event in the city of Comrat on February 15, 2019. (Daniel MIHAILESCU/AFP)
April 20, 2023, 2:41 am
A wanted Moldovan oligarch backs Russian interests at home from a haven in Israel
Convicted in absentia for stealing $1 billion from Moldova’s banking system, businessman-turned-opposition leader Ilan Shor is leading pro-Moscow protests in the country
By Jacob Judah
Moldova's then parliamentary candidate Ilan Shor, mayor of the town of Orhei, arrives to meet with supporters during a campaign event in the city of Comrat on February 15, 2019. (Daniel MIHAILESCU/AFP)
April 15, 2023, 5:16 pm
Israeli-born Moldovan oligarch sentenced in absentia to 15 years over $1b bank theft
Ilan Shor, who fled to Israel in 2019, is convicted of fraud and money laundering in 2014; unclear if Moldova has requested extradition, or if Israel will comply
By AP
Ilan Shor, then-mayor of the town of Orhei, Moldova, arrives to meet with supporters during a campaign event in the city of Comrat on February 15, 2019. (Daniel MIHAILESCU/AFP)
October 26, 2022, 9:13 pm
US sanctions Israeli citizen for promoting Kremlin agenda in Moldova
Ilar Shor, 35, a businessman-turned-lawmaker, accused of working with ‘corrupt oligarchs and Moscow-based entities to create political unrest in Moldova’
By Tobias Siegal
Firefighters work on a fire on a building that was bombed by Russia in the eastern Ukraine town of Chuguiv, on February 24, 2022. (Aris Messinis/AFP)
February 24, 2022, 8:59 pm
Israelis prepare aid packages, relief teams for Ukraine amid Russian onslaught
Both the government of Israel and private organizations plan to send assistance to Ukrainian Jews and to refugees fleeing to neighboring countries
By Judah Ari Gross
Illustrative: The empty halls of the first floor of the Central Bus Station in Tel Aviv on July 26, 2019. (Miriam Alster/FLASH90)
August 10, 2021, 4:25 pm
Moldovan man found dead in Tel Aviv COVID quarantine hotel; murder suspected
Man in his 30s, who was not an Israeli citizen, said to have arrived on Monday evening; reportedly signs of violence to his body
By ToI Staff
Ilan Shor meets with supporters during a campaign event in the city of Comrat on February 15, 2019. (Daniel Mihailescu/AFP)
August 30, 2019, 5:54 am
Moldova Jews bear anti-Semitic brunt as corrupt lawmaker flees, maybe to Israel
Saga of Israeli-born businessman Ilan Shor, thought to be hiding in Israel to avoid jail, dredges up old hatreds, complicating life for small Jewish community he left behind
By Cnaan Liphshiz
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