Abstract: This article is dedicated to examination of a large and rapidly developing community of the State of Israel – the “Russian Street”, and its influence upon Israel-Russia relations. The author considers such aspects of the topic as: the differences between “Great Aliyah” of the 1990s and the first wave of repatriation of the 1970s; factors that formed the unique “Russian-Jewish” identity among the “Russian street” representatives; political and economic potential of the “Russian Israel”, key areas of cooperation of two countries, and the role of the “Russian” community thereof. In the course of this research, the author applies the means and procedures of formal logic, specific-sociological approach, and interpretation tools of various sources. The main conclusion lies in the following thesis: if in political regard the community does not produce a decisive influence upon the actions of Israeli authorities, then in economic aspect, it unequivocally contributes to strengthening of economic ties between Israel and Russia. Russia’s initiatives on the development of different forms of economic, cultural and media cooperation can stimulate the expansion of influence of the Russian-speaking community.

Abstract: The research subject is the peculiarities of the Russian-speaking community in the State of Israel. The author studies such aspects of the topic as the character of ties forming in the community of the Russian-speaking population of Israel. Special attention is given to the factors promoting the formation of a unique identity of the representatives of “Russian Israel”, the main stages of evolution of the Russian-speaking community in the political life of Israel and the formation of the Russian-speaking media space in the State of Israel. It is reasonable to consider the Russian-speaking community as a long-term phenomenon, which at the present time is an important actor on the political stage of the country. The main research methods are the system approach, analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction. The scientific novelty of the study consists in the complex analysis of the “Russian Israel” phenomenon on the basis of original sources. The author concludes that among the factors of consolidation of the Russian-speaking community of Israel were territorial localization, preservation of the cultural environment of the country of origin, a special status of the Russian language in Israel and its place in the media space, support for various community symbols and the socio-political development program.