A week before Rosh Hashanah, the government approved a resolution today (Sunday) that tasks the Minister of Jerusalem and Israeli Tradition, Meir Porush, with formulating an action plan to assist and ease the conditions of delay at land border crossings for Israeli travelers to Uman, which will be formulated in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which will carry out the necessary coordination with the government of Ukraine and other countries The relevance transition. For the purpose of implementing the government's decision, the Ministry of Jerusalem and Israel Tradition will allocate a total of 4 million NIS from its budget.
However, Minister Orit Strook voted against the decision on travel budgeting, saying that the public should avoid traveling to Uman due to the ongoing war in Ukraine. According to her, "At a time when Ukraine is under war and missile attacks, without shelters or any reasonable preparation for protection - it must not be implied that the Israeli government is backing such a dangerous trip."
"Dear Jews, don't go there! Don't risk your lives!" she added and addressed the public. "There are enough other places of prayer. May we get to be 'written for life'."
According to the government's announcement, the program will include, among other things: the establishment of crowd regulation complexes within the borders of Ukraine, the presence of Hebrew-speaking representatives and representatives who speak the local language to manage the complexes, assistance in promoting procedures in coordination with the government and local security personnel, carrying out outreach activities to the traveling public, establishing a situation and control room in Israel , assistance in directing the audience to the borders and complexes that will be defined for the purpose of regulation and inspection, and more. The decision clarifies that the actions that will be carried out do not impose responsibility of any kind on the Israeli government for the travel of Israeli citizens to the destination in question.
The explanation for the decision states that "Last year, in the shadow of the situation in the region, there was an unusual load at the crossings which led to the collapse of all the land cross borders in Ukraine. At some of the borders, thousands of Israeli citizens spent long hours in the cold and in substandard conditions waiting to cross the border while risking their lives and lacking minimal conditions and in a difficult humanitarian situation." .
"In order to prevent reaching a similar and even more serious situation this year, which could drag various branches of the State of Israel into urgent humanitarian activity and complex and expensive rescue operations - without any choice; and also in view of the success of the ministry in managing Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai's celebration in Meron this year, at the request of the Ministry of National Security - who appealed to the Minister of Jerusalem and Israel's Tradition in this matter - the ministry headed by Minister Meir Porush was engaged to join the government's activities with regard to the movement of Israelis at the border crossings, through various actions, including outreach and coordination with travelers and communities and other issues."
It should be noted that at the meeting it was emphasized at the Prime Minister's request that there is a travel warning for Ukraine due to the fighting situation, and the government calls on the public to avoid traveling to risk areas.