More than 5,000 Ukrainians have requested Israel allow them to immediately immigrate amid the ongoing invasion of their country by Russia, the Jewish Agency said Monday.
The agency, founded decades before the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, handles Israeli immigration for Jews in the diaspora.
According to AFP, the agency has set up six processing stations at Ukrainian border crossings with Poland, Moldova, Romania and Hungary.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry also said that thousands of Ukrainians had inquired about immigrating to Israel.
Two orthodox Jews are seen arriving are seen arriving at the Medyka pedestrian border crossing in eastern Poland on February 25, 2022, fleeing the conflict in their country, one day after Russia launched a military attack on its neighbour Ukraine. (WOJTEK RADWANSKI/AFP via Getty Images)
Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid on Monday said that around 180,000 Ukrainians are entitled to Israeli citizenship if they choose. Israel’s law of return stipulates that a person have at least one Jewish grandparent in order to eligible for Israeli citizenship.
“Ukraine is a difficult battle zone, but we are committed to a sacred principle — we will do everything not to leave any Israeli behind, any Jew behind. This is the reason the Jewish state exists. This is our commitment,” he said.
The Israeli foreign minister added that some 4,000 Israelis have already left Ukraine. However, there are still thousands left in the country who have been instructed to return to Israel by land. The war claimed its first Israeli casualty on Monday evening, when a convoy of people fleeing the country was hit by Russian fire near Kyiv.
After the Russian invasion of Crimea in 2014, Israel witnessed a jump in immigration from Ukraine.
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