Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said Sunday a plane carrying 100 tons of humanitarian aid will be sent to Ukraine in the coming days amid the Russian invasion, but remained quiet on the possibility of becoming the mediator in the peace talks between the two states.
Speaking at the start of the weekly cabinet meetingת Bennett said the continued fighting in Ukraine may have humanitarian implications, "more grave than we can imagine." He said the aid will include water purification equipment, medical supplies, tents, blankets, sleeping bags and other items to help the displaced civilian population.
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Prime Minister Naftali Bennett speaking at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday
(Photo: Yoav Dudkevitch)
"I ask all in the name of Israelis to express the hope that the conflict in Ukraine will end soon. We pray for the citizens of Ukraine and hope for an end to the bloodshed," he said.
The aid that is expected to leave Israel on Tuesday, will be delivered to Ukraine via Poland by Israeli diplomats at the border.
While Israel's foreign minister has censured the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Bennett has stopped short of such remarks. Israel is wary of clashing with Russia, especially over next-door Syria, where Moscow has military sway.
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Ukrainians attempting to leave the country at the Polish border on Sunday
(Photo: AP)
Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked, a Bennett confidante, said in an interview to local media on Saturday that the mediation request by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was "being attended to" but she would not be drawn on the matter further.
The Russian embassy declined to comment.
Israel is home to hundreds of thousands of immigrants from Russia and Ukraine. It is also mindful of the well-being of the two countries' large Jewish communities.
Thousands of Israelis, many of them of Ukrainian origin, demonstrated outside the Russian embassy in Tel Aviv on Saturday, protesting Russia's invasion.
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Demonstrators protesting the Russian invasion of Ukraine outside the Russian embassy in Tel Aviv on Saturday
(Photo: AFP)
The security cabinet was set to meet later on Sunday to discuss the situation in eastern Europe and the efforts to extract Israelis stranded by the fighting as well as Israel's response to the increasing requests by Ukrainian Jews to immigrate.
Israeli diplomats estimate thus far, up to 2,000 Israeli nationals left Ukraine to neighboring countries.