TEL AVIV, Israel — Israel has reached its first Davis Cup semifinal by taking an insurmountable 3-0 lead over Russia with a five-set win in the doubles match.

Andy Ram and Jonathan Erlich defeated Marat Safin and Igor Kunitsyn 6-3, 6-4, 6-7, 4-6, 6-4 Saturday to decide the best-of-five series. Israel will take on either Germany at home or Spain away in September.

Ehrlich, who teamed with Ram to win the 2008 Australian Open doubles champions, said Saturday's win was the biggest moment of their careers.

"This is something I will cherish for all of my life," said Ehrlich, who recently came back from a 10-month injury layoff.

Israel had taken a surprising 2-0 lead after Harvel Levy beat Igor Andreev and Dudi Sela rallied to defeat Mikhai Youzhny in Friday's singles matches.

Russia has won the Davis Cup twice — in 2002 and 2007 — and made it to the semifinals in each of the past five years.

Israel had reached the quarterfinals once before, losing to India in New Delhi in 1987.

Safin was making his final Davis Cup appearance, before retiring at the end of the season.

"At the end of the day we were playing great tennis," Safin said. "We were fighting and we came back until the end of the match. They were more experienced, I guess."

Looking back on his Davis Cup career, he said: "We had some great matches in the past. It's very nice to defend the colors of your country. It's great to be part of the team."