Top officials in Israel are said to be preparing a scenario in which they
would fly tens of thousands of Jews out of Ukraine in the event of a Russian
invasion.
The news was revealed by the leading local newspaper, Haaretz, amid
persistent Western accusations that Russia could be planning an all-out
attack on Ukraine.
In a report on Sunday (1/23/2022), Haaretz claimed representatives from
several Israeli government offices had met over the weekend to discuss the
risk the Jewish community in Ukraine could potentially get caught up in the
conflict.
The briefings included those from National Security council officials; the
ministry of defence, transportation, and foreign affairs; and those
responsible for maintaining relations with the Jews living in the territory
of the former Soviet Union.
"Israel has long had plans for the mass repatriation of its would-be
citizens if needed," the report's authors said, but the possibility of such
an evacuation has been renewed in Ukraine amid growing fears of an attack
from Russia.
Observers estimate there may be as many as 400,000 Jews living in Ukraine,
and around 200,000 are deemed eligible for Israeli citizenship under
Israel's Law of Return, with nearly 75,000 Jews living in eastern Ukraine.
During World War II, more than one million Jews living in the Soviet Union,
mostly in modern-day Ukraine, were murdered by Nazi German forces and local
collaborators during the Holocaust. As many as 34,000 Jews were murdered and
thrown into mass graves at Babi Yar gorge, outside Kiev, over two days in
1941.
The Ukrainian government has come under fire from officials in Israel over
the past few years for its role in what Israeli President Isaac Herzog
described as a growing trend of historical revisionism in the Eastern
European country.
"Memories are not simply forgotten, they are erased, or even rewritten,"
Herzog warned in October ahead of a visit to Kiev.
Earlier this year, the Israeli embassy attacked the annual torchlight
procession held in honor of Stepan Bandera, the wartime leader of the
Ukrainian Nationalist Organization (OUP) who worked closely with the Nazis
and was responsible for the ethnic "cleansing" act that killed Jews and
people of Polish descent.
Bandera has become a prominent independence figure in Ukraine in recent
years. The claim comes amid growing concerns in recent months that Moscow is
gathering troops along the Russia-Ukraine border before attacking its
neighbour.
On Sunday, the US State Department ordered the families of diplomats working
in Kiev to leave the country "because of the continued threat of Russian
military action." The Kremlin, however, has repeatedly denied allegations
that it plans to attack Ukraine.
Its press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, previously said the movement of the
country's armed forces on its own territory was an internal matter and not a
concern of others.
