Foreign Minister Yair Lapid on Sunday urged Israeli nationals in Ukraine to leave the country as border tensions with Russia remain high and an invasion is looking more likely by the day.
"According to political sources that speak to us, especially the Americans, there is a short window of opportunity to leave for Israel. I tell Israelis — return to Israel before the situation gets complicated," he told a press briefing.
When asked whether Israel supported either faction of the conflict, Lapid stated Jerusalem will maintain its neutrality for the sake of the large Jewish communities in both countries.
"I may be more cautious than other foreign ministers because I have a problem that other foreign ministers do not have —Russia and Ukraine both have large Jewish communities and part of our responsibility is to keep them safe and that requires caution," he said.
"Our stance is that all options must be exhausted to avoid an armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine."
Jerusalem's top diplomat also stated that evacuation efforts of Israeli nationals from the Eastern European country were ongoing and the embassy was trying to establish contact with them.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky
(Photo: EPA)
"There are between 10,000 and 15,000 Israelis in Ukraine, most of them in Kyiv. Of them, 2,000 are students, largely from the Arab sector. 6,050 have signed up at the embassy's link for immediate updates, Everyone will receive a text message in the coming hours to make sure we are in touch with them," Lapid said.
"There are another 6,000 we need to contact and are trying to contact. There is a large Jewish community, one of the largest in the world, and we are in touch with them through the ambassador, his deputy and embassy staff. In the coming week, there will be 31 flights to Israel, all of them booked.
There is regular contact with the airlines and there is no problem to bolster flights if needed. During the day, 150 emissaries will land [in Israel]... Embassy staff are working on it.
The Jewish people do not need the lived experience of Ukrainians to know that we should not trust anyone but ourselves. My father understood this in the ghetto, we do not put our security in the hands of anyone and Israel's security rests with the IDF.
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Basic arms training for civilians in Kyiv, Ukraine as fears of a Russian invasion grow, February 13, 2022
(Photo: EPA)
The Americans do not hide their stance and think that this is going to be an open confrontation. They are having a dialogue with us and opinions differ."
He also noted that despite boasting amicable ties with both countries, Jerusalem is not playing a role in the mediation efforts between Moscow and Kyiv.
"Israel is not an active actor in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict and therefore acts cautiously. I spoke with the Russian Foreign Minister [Sergey] Lavrov following the request of [U.S.] Secretary of State [Antony] Blinken, but this is no different than the involvement of other Western countries in this affair."