Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked announced on Tuesday that Israel is ready to take in up to 5,000 Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion, allow 20,000 other Ukrainians who arrived prior to the fighting to remain temporarily, and will no longer require refugees arriving at Ben Gurion Airport to deposit 10,000 shekels ($3,028) in order to enter the country.
Instead of paying a deposit, those who enter will merely have to sign a declaration pledging to leave Israel once the state of emergency in Ukraine is over.
The deposit applied to Ukrainian refugees without first-degree relatives in Israel.
The decision ends a point of controversy over asylum provisions. Ukraine’s Ambassador to Israel Yevgen Korniychuk, along with critics within the Israeli government, had demanded that the deposit requirement be lifted as unduly onerous in a time when people are fleeing for their lives.
Because what Israel needs more than anything else is more churches!
ReplyDelete