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“In Ukraine, Jews feel significantly safer than in Russia," - Jacob Dov Bleich, Chief Rabbi of Ukraine

22.06.2023, 17:48

After the start of the full-scale war, significantly more Jews emigrated to Israel from Russia than from Ukraine.

This statement was made by Jacob Dov Bleich in an interview on Radio NV, as reported by Bagnet.

"It is interesting that since the beginning of the full-scale war between Russia and Ukraine, approximately 16,000 people left Ukraine for Israel, while 65,000 left Russia. There is a significant movement of Jews from Russia who are leaving. Many of them returned to Russia after obtaining Israeli passports, as they needed the passport for future travel or other purposes," explained Jacob Dov Bleich.

The Chief Rabbi of Ukraine expressed the opinion that Jews are facing greater danger in Russia than in Ukraine. He suggested that the Russian authorities may blame Jews for the loss of the war against Ukraine.

"Jews have lived in Ukraine for over a thousand years, and out of those thousand years, there were 50 or 60 years when the relationship between Ukrainians and Jews was not good. On the other hand, Jews have lived in Russia for a thousand years, and there hasn't been a single good day for the Jewish community under Russian rule, whether it was in the empire, the Soviet Union, or elsewhere," he added.

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