MK Urges Rescue Plan for Ukrainian Jews

In a letter to Netanyahu, MK Rina Frenkel (Yesh Atid) called attention to the plight of Jews in Ukraine, which has been torn by civil unrest in recent days.

“Incitement is growing stronger. Newspapers and digital media mention ‘Jewish conspiracies’ every morning, anti-Semitic caricatures appear, and in January, words turned into actions, as a local Rabbi was attacked and a man was stabbed on the way to synagogue on Friday night,” Frenkel wrote.

Frenkel said she felt a personal responsibility to get involved, since she herself came to Israel  from Kiev in 1990.

The MK also cited the “tragic history of the Jews of Ukraine, who experienced pogroms and the Holocaust.”

“In light of recent events,” she added, “this community is under a clear and present danger,” and called for immediate action.

Frenkel asked the Prime Minister to take the lead in putting together a plan with a budget involving the Prime Minister’s Office, the Foreign Ministry, the Immigration Absorption Ministry, the Diaspora Ministry, the Jewish Agency and others.

The lawmaker quoted figures from the World Jewish Congress that state that Ukraine has the third-largest Jewish community in Europe and the fifth-largest in the world, with 310,000 Jews.

This article appeared in print on page 9 of the February 28th, 2014 edition of Hamodia.