The head of a prominent European
Jewish group requested Tuesday that the Israeli government urgently
send security personnel to Ukraine in order to protect the Jewish
communities there, which have been targeted during the political unrest
gripping the country.
In
a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister
Moshe Ya’alon, the head of the European Jewish Association, Rabbi
Menahem Margolin, urgently requested that Israel “send trained security
guards to protect Jewish communities in Ukrainian cities and towns.”
Ukrainian Jewish communities throughout the
country are seriously concerned and feel helpless in the face of a
“growing wave of anti-Semitic attacks,” the letter stated, citing the
recent examples of a Molotov cocktail thrown at a Chabad center in the eastern city of Zaporozhye,
a threatening phone message left for a rabbi in Kryvyi Rih calling for
him to leave the city, and anti-Semitic graffiti found in Kiev and other
locations.
The reports indicate a “Jewish emergency,” according to the letter sent by the Brussels-based EJA head.
The recent Israeli Air Force fly-by over
Auschwitz “conveyed a clear message that Israel will ensure the safety
of Jews around the world, even in foreign countries,” the rabbi wrote,
so “I urge you to take every possible measure, including the dispatch of
security guards, to insure the safety of Jewish communities in
Ukraine.”
Ukraine was gripped by intense violence and
demonstrations last week as pro-European Union and pro-Russian
demonstrators clashed in the streets, leading to an overthrow of the
government and the release of former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko
from prison.
During the crisis, various Jewish groups have
tried to aid Ukraine’s Jewish population, which is estimated at between
350-400,000. The JDC sent a delegation to help elderly Jews affected by the turmoil, and, earlier this week, Jewish Agency head Natan Sharansky announced that the agency would raise funds to increase security at Jewish institutions.
Inga kommentarer:
Skicka en kommentar