Last Refuge Israel | Jewish General

Israel’s former and future Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces major challenges, including in foreign policy. His new government will have to come up with a new strategy regarding Russia’s war of annihilation against Ukraine. More than six million Ukrainians have already become refugees.

The Jewish communities in Ukraine are also bleeding dry. Many Jews are also fleeing Russia. According to estimates, around 75,000 have left the country in the past few months. At least 25,000 of them have emigrated to Israel.

jewish agency Now that the Kremlin wants to stop the activities of the Jewish Agency in Russia and Vladimir Putin recently ordered a partial mobilization of reservists, there is growing concern that there will soon be a new Iron Curtain, at least for Russian citizens, and that emigration could then be impossible.

Israel’s government must act now. She can no longer limit herself to expressions of solidarity or condemnations from afar, but should quickly launch an initiative for refugees from Ukraine and Russia so that they can have a good future in Israel.

Israel’s government must act now. It can no longer limit itself to statements of solidarity or condemnations from afar.

The Jewish state should remove all hurdles in accepting olim from Russia. This also includes making it easier for immigrants to open accounts and transfer their assets, and to shorten the waiting times for confirmation of Jewish identity.

aggression But Israel also needs to reconsider its strategic considerations with regard to Russia, which will affect its room for maneuver in Lebanon and Syria. Not only in view of Russian aggression against the Jewish diaspora, but also because of Israel’s own interests, the status quo vis-à-vis Moscow is no longer tenable.

Providing the right answers to these questions should be a priority for Netanyahu – and finally initiating a change of course.

The author is President of the European Rabbinical Conference and was Chief Rabbi of Moscow for almost 30 years.