The paper reported that in a letter to Yaakov Mossul, Mr. Arinson's lawyer, the legal adviser of the Prime Minister's Office, Shlomit Barnea, wrote: "You and your client are, of course, entitled to do as you please within the framework of the law, but we would like to draw your attention to the recommendation of security officials to cut all ties with the Russian official with whom you are in touch."
The Prime Minister's Office received the recommendation to stop all contacts with the Russian diplomat from the Israeli secret services. The office refused to comment on the case, the reasons for the request or the motives of the secret services' recommendation. The newspaper reported that a spokesman for the office said that the letter, "speaks for itself."
The newspaper reported that the letter also said: "As far as security circles in Israel know, the Russian intelligence also uses business contacts to advance its intelligence interests."
"According to Mr. Arinson, this is an attempt to prevent Russian companies from being integrated into Israeli economic activity," the newspaper reported. According to the paper, Mr. Arinson "felt he was ... not getting sufficient explanations from official Israeli sources."
A spokesman for the Russian Embassy said that it regretted about the publication of the letter in the newspaper. The Russian diplomatic mission expressed regret "in connection with the fact that the influential Israeli newspaper carried such a biased article," the spokesman said.
As it is noted in the special commentary by the Embassy's press service, which was sent to the local press, the article's "groundless claims are clearly aimed at aspersing the successfully developing trade and economic relations between Russia and Israel."
The Embassy noted that "this is being done right now when, as the article itself notes, additional prospects are opening up for furthering bilateral interaction in important sectors of the Israeli economy."
