“Israel, like Romania, condemns the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It has no justification, and we call on Russia to stop the shooting and attacks and to resolve the issues around the negotiating table. Israel will help as much as it can to reach a peaceful solution. We are working in full coordination with our ally, the United States, and with our European partners to try to end this violent tragedy as quickly as possible,” he said.

 

Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid visited Sunday The Jewish Agency for Israel’s Aliyah (immigration to Israel) processing center in Bucharest  during a visit to Romania.

He met with Jewish Ukrainian refugees set to make aliyah as part of an expedited process recently approved by the Israeli government. They shared their touching personal stories of fleeing Ukraine.

The Jewish Agency’s Chief Operating Officer Yehuda Setton explained to the miniister the organization’s efforts in deploying staff and volunteers in Romania and other countries along the Ukrainian border in order to help thousands of Jewish Ukrainian refugees receive assistance and make aliyah.

The Aliyah center in Bucharest is one of many facilities established by The Jewish Agency and the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (IFCJ) immediately after the war broke out in Ukraine last month. The centers provide humanitarian aid and assist the influx of Jewish Ukrainian refugees escaping the country and hoping to immigrate to Israel.

In Bucharest alone, there are four Jewish Agency Aliyah processing centers that currently house some 1,000 Jewish refugees who fled Ukraine, in addition to other centers in Poland, Moldova and Hungary, where The Jewish Agency and IFCJ have taken in a total of 6,000 Ukrainian Jewish refugees.

During his visit, Lapid met also with his Romanian counterpart, Bogdan Aurescu, to discuss the Ukraine crisis and the refugee issue.

Lapid praised the Romanian government over its efforts to assist refugees and its cooperation with Israel to that end.

“The Romanian government has helped and is helping Israel save many lives,” said Lapid. Jewish children from an orphanage in Odessa had crossed into Romania at Siret, as had Jewish children with cancer who were then flown to Israel for treatment, he said.

The cooperation between Israel and Romania had resulted in “thousands” of lives being saved, he added.

“I thank you my friend, and I thank the Romanian government for their cooperation and goodwill. This is further proof of the brave and longstanding friendship between our countries, in peacetime and also in times of war,” said Lapid.

“Israel, like Romania, condemns the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It has no justification, and we call on Russia to stop the shooting and attacks and to resolve the issues around the negotiating table. Israel will help as much as it can to reach a peaceful solution. We are working in full coordination with our ally, the United States, and with our European partners to try to end this violent tragedy as quickly as possible,” he said.

On Monday, Lapid was due to travel to Slovakia to meet with Slovakian President Zuzana Čaputová and Foreign Minister Ivan Korčok.