Emotional scenes as UJIA leaders welcome Ukranian refugees at Ben Gurion

There were emotional scenes at Ben Gurion Airport when 140 Ukrainians making aliyah  were welcomed off the plane at by senior UJIA staff and trustees.

UJIA Chairman, Louise Jacobs, and CEO Mandie Winston were among those meeting the arrivals as their flight from Bucharest, Romania landed in Israel on 9 March.

The new immigrants were mostly women, children and elderly people fleeing the Russian invasion of Ukraine. They had all made the journey from their homes across the border into Romania before flying to Israel.

UJIA is supporting its partner organisation, the Jewish Agency for Israel, as it works to bring Jewish Ukrainians fleeing the invasion to Israel.

It will also be supporting the Jewish Agency’s work housing the new arrivals and helping them integrate in Israel.

“We talk about Jewish peoplehood but it is at times like this we see it action”, said UJIA Chairman Louise Jacobs.

“It was heart-breaking to see these exhausted women and children arriving having left their home in Ukraine in such horrific circumstances. It is up to Jewish communities everywhere to support them as they rebuild their lives in the Jewish homeland.”

Irit Barash, the Jewish Agency for Israel’s Head of Delegation to the UK and Western Europe said:

“Jewish Agency teams are active throughout Ukraine saving lives. We have received requests from thousands of Ukrainian households who we are helping across the border and into temporary housing nearby while they await Aliyah.

“We already have 5000 beds available in Israel for those on the way. Families have been left heartbroken and torn apart, leaving men aged 18-60 behind in Ukraine. Bringing those we can to Israel and absorbing them is at the heart of what the Jewish Agency does and what we are doing today.”