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Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett met Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin on Saturday to discuss the war in Ukraine and later spoke by phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for the third time in 24 hours.
Bennett is coordinating his efforts to resolve the crisis with the United States, France and Germany, an Israeli official said. French President Emmanuel Macron had spoken to Israel’s premier before the latter flew to Moscow to brief him on his own conversations with Putin, the Elysée Palace said, adding: “They will stay in touch with the aim of obtaining a ceasefire, and this in coordination with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.”
Bennett, Israel’s first Orthodox premier, made the flight to Moscow on the Sabbath, which observant Jews are barred from doing under Jewish law — though exceptions are made for medical or security situations in which human life is threatened. Bennett was joined by Ukrainian-born Housing and Construction Minister Zeev Elkin, who is also religious.
During their three-hour discussion at the Kremlin, Bennett raised with Putin the issue of the large Jewish community caught up in the war in Ukraine.
After his meeting with Putin, Israel’s premier headed to Berlin for talks with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
Jerusalem, at the behest of Ukrainian President Zelenskyy, has offered to serve as a mediator in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. While Israel has condemned the Russian invasion, voiced solidarity with Kyiv and sent humanitarian aid to Ukraine, it has also said that it plans to maintain contact with Moscow in the hope of helping to alleviate the crisis.
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Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Saturday that Moscow is demanding guarantees from the US before backing the Iran nuclear deal. Lavrov specifically cited the current wave of Western sanctions being imposed on Russia.
Lavrov stated that the nuclear talks have covered most issues and “from our point of view, if Iran agrees, this document can already be launched into the acceptance process.”
However, he added that there are “problems that have appeared recently from the point of view of Russia’s interests,” due to concerns over the terms of the deal concerning Moscow’s involvement in the civilian nuclear sector in Iran and arms sales to Tehran. Lavrov also noted the “avalanche of aggressive sanctions that the West has started spewing out, which hasn’t ended as far as I understand,” over the Ukraine conflict.
Russia’s top diplomat said that, as a result, Moscow has had to ask the US for guarantees, requiring a “clear answer” that the new sanctions will not affect its “rights” under the nuclear deal: “We requested that our US colleagues… give us written guarantees at the minimum level of Secretary of State that the current [sanctions] process launched by the US will not in any way harm our right to free, fully-fledged trade and economic and investment cooperation and military-technical cooperation with Iran.”
The comments came shortly after Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said at talks in Tehran that they had agreed on an approach to resolve issues crucial in efforts to revive the 2015 nuclear deal.
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Israel’s Aliyah and Integration Ministry has made a dramatic decision to recognize immigrants coming from Ukraine as refugees fleeing conflict. Immigrants who come from Ukraine will receive a significant one-time grant promised to people arriving from battle zones. In addition, these new Israeli citizens will qualify for financial packages and temporary housing.
Every immigrant who comes from Ukraine will receive a one-time grant of about NIS 6,000. A couple will receive NIS 11,000 and a family will receive NIS 15,000. The ministry explained that “the decision to offer a grant to the refugees is due to the fact that the immigrants coming from Ukraine are not prepared for their Aliyah — for all that it entails and were forced to leave their home in a hurry and without their belongings.”
And your children shall return to their borders.” (Book of Jeremiah)
100 Jewish Ukrainian orphans are on their way to Israel via Romania.
Welcome home 💙🇮🇱.pic.twitter.com/vjYZ504wCM
— Israel ישראל (@Israel) March 6, 2022
The Aliyah and Integration Ministry has been preparing in recent weeks for the absorption of thousands of immigrants from Ukraine. From assessments made by the ministry, it is clear that the immigrants who will arrive starting next week will have few possessions and clothing.
Meanwhile, the ministry is continuing to publish a “call for proposals” to find more hotels and hostels to accommodate the immigrants at least for their first few days in Israel. To date, the ministry has allocated about 12,000 rooms in cooperation with the Israel Hotel Association, guest houses and housing clusters throughout the country.
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Israel will set up a field hospital in Ukraine next week, the Health Ministry announced on Saturday night. The hospital is being built through a collaboration between the Israeli government, Sheba Medical Center and Clalit Health Services. It will be staffed by Sheba’s own personnel, as well as that of other Israeli hospitals.
The field hospital will include a medical ward for adults and children, an emergency room, a delivery room and a primary-care clinic. It will also use advanced remote telemedicine technologies spearheaded by Sheba.
“It is our moral duty to increase humanitarian aid and extend assistance to the people of Ukraine,” Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz said, adding: “We will continue to help as much as necessary to save the lives of citizens whose worlds have been destroyed in an instant.”
The Health Ministry last week dispatched planes with medical equipment and medicine to Ukraine. In addition, a delegation left with a team of physicians, nurses, social workers and a logistics expert from hospitals around Israel on a humanitarian aid mission to Poland through the NATAN Worldwide Disaster Relief organization. The team is expected to be operating in the area for at least the next two months.
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