All Eyes on Ukraine
With Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, the world’s focus and attention are rightly drawn there. The massive onslaught of Russian might against the Ukrainian nation and its people have shocked the world. The roots of conflict between the two countries go back centuries, but the latest conflict has roots in the more recent year of 2014. “Since 2014 fighting has been underway in two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine. It is those regions that Putin declared independent this week. Conflict is not new to those areas.”
One point of concern in this conflict are the 400,000 Jews that reside there. Prime Minister Bennett said, “Israel is a refuge for Jews in distress. This is our purpose. We have done this more than once in our history and we will carry out this sacred task as well”, referring to assisting fleeing Jews. He has two key goals, “To make things easier for Jews in distress, so that they do not face a tangle of bureaucracy when they arrive in Israel. Second, would be successful integration into Israel so that those who come will encourage their remaining family members in Ukraine to follow.”
The Ukrainian ambassador to Israel, Yevgen Korniychuk, said, “We thank your government for its effort and we value it a lot. We hope it will bring us to the end of the bloodshed and to peace. Our government sees Jerusalem as a possible location for negotiations with Russia.”
The Ukrainians and the world have the same hopes, peace and an end to the bloodshed.
(Source: The Times of Israel)
