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Two flights carrying 235 new immigrants from the Ukraine landed in Ben-Gurion Airport on Tuesday, 20 Tammuz, with the assistance of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (IFCJ).

The majority of the olim, consisting of 96 families, escaped the war zones in the east of the country and are about to begin their new lives in Israel. These olim are joined by 280 other olim from the Ukraine, who were brought to Israel by the IFCJ about a month ago.

Amongst the olim who arrived yesterday are the M. family (Name is kept for reasons of security), who escaped the war zone in the city of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine. “When the bombing of the city began I was at work”, tells Irena, mother of the family, “Helicopters suddenly appeared in the sky and attacked the airport in Donetsk. We found ourselves under siege and without any way of going back home”. Later, Irena talks about how their home turned into a base of operations for the rebels, who were stationed in the city for 242 days straight while turning it to a restricted military area, in which heavy fighting with the army was taking place.

“Never in my life have I heard such loud noises. My son has Asthma and I recall, when the shelling began, how he was embracing his inhaler… We were all ready to flee at a moment’s notice”. For two years Irena and her family wondered through various cities in the Ukraine until they realized that it was time to move on to a safer place, where they can live safely. “We thought about making Aliyah as soon as we got married”, says Maxim the father, “But after the birth of our eldest daughter we decided to postpone it…Nevertheless, we realized that in light of the past two years, the time has come for ourselves and our children to make Aliyah and enable them to live safely while being educated as Jewish”. Irena, Maxim, and their children are intended to live in the City of Nahariya, in the north of Israel.

Another family who made Aliya was the O. family from Luhansk, who found themselves in the middle of what is known as the “The Republic of Luhansk”, a separatist state established in eastern Ukraine by the Pro-Russian separatist forces, which in time turned into a battlefield between the two factions. The family talks about how at the beginning of the war they didn’t believe that the fighting will come to the city, until one day they woke up to find unknown para-military forces roaming around their neighborhood. “We didn’t believe that the war will arrive all the way to us and that it will go on for so long”, says Alexey, father of the family, adding that as soon as the fighting began he and his family fled their home to a town further from there, where they found shelter for a month.

“We actually managed to find jobs and we thought that everything will be ok, but soon after we started to feel homesick and so we decided to go back to Luhansk. We stayed for two months after we returned there,” Says Alexey, “Until we realized that the situation was getting worse and that we are in danger. In addition to that, we couldn’t find any way to support our daughter, since there was little to no work in the city”, Israel, they say, was a way for them to escape this harsh destiny. “We are not afraid to start over. Our lives throughout the past couple of years have taught us how to handle new and changing situations… We left almost all of our belonging behind in Luhansk and we came to Israel with nothing but our suitcases.” Alexey, Yulia and their 5-year old daughter. Veronica, are intended to live in Netanya.

As mentioned, along with the M. and O. families, 200 more Olim came to Israel abroad the flights on Tuesday, with the help of the IFCJ, 66 of which are children between the ages of 4-16 and 8 of which are babies. The youngest of the new Olim is only 6-months-old and the oldest is 95-years-old. The olim are set to live in different cities in Israel, amongst them are Nahariya, Afula, Bat Yam, Haifa, Netanya, and Eilat. The Olim are set to split between a total of 30 different cities across Israel. This flight in joined by 27 other flights arranged by the IFCJ in the last 3 months, as part of its efforts to assist the Aliyah to Israel. As part of these efforts, over 4000 new olim have made Aliyah, coming from the Ukraine, France, South America and more.

Upon their arrival in Israel, the IFCJ is assisting the new Olim with grants of $1000 given to every adult and $500 for every child, in addition to funding their flights to Israel. This support by the IFCJ is given in addition to the various grants the Olim are entitled to by the Ministry of Absorption.

Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, president of the IFCJ, adds that “It is very difficult to hear about the suffering and fear the Olim have been going through in the past year and are still experiencing today. I understand how difficult it must be to make to decision to detach the family from the life and home where they grew up, but in light of the harsh situation the Olim are currently in, we are happy to assist to in making Aliyah and get a second chance to live a safer life, in a Jewish environment and education. The IFCJ will continue to aid all those people who want to make Aliyah and require assistance in order to do so.”

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(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem/Photo: Daniel Bar-On)