Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on Sunday called on Israeli citizens in Ukraine to “come home” while there was still time, amid fears of a Russian invasion.
“Come home,” Bennett said at the outset of the weekly cabinet meeting. “Don’t take unnecessary risks. Don’t wait till you badly want to come home but it has become impossible. Take responsibility for your lives. Leave Ukraine as fast as possible and come home.”
According to the Foreign Ministry, around 15,000 Israelis are currently in Ukraine.
“Come back to Israel before things get complicated,” Lapid said.
“We are still hoping that the crisis is solved through diplomatic means, but we also have a responsibility as a country toward Israeli citizens there, as well as toward the Jews,” he added.
The Times of Israel cited Lapid as saying the assessment of an imminent Russian invasion is based on foreign intelligence and diplomatic sources, primarily American.
Israel is also preparing for the possibility that Ukraine’s skies will be closed, and is drawing up plans to evacuate Jews and Israelis overland through Poland, Hungary, Romania, Moldova, and Slovakia.
“Part of our task is to protect them, and that requires us to be more cautious in such a conflict,” Lapid said. “But Israel’s position, like that of the West, is clear: We must do everything in order to avoid armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine.”