– 28 August 2020 (@kann_news)
The organization of Israelis who arrived at Odessa airport early Thursday included Arabs and Jews, a passenger.
“The Arabs were allowed to pass immediately, however, when they saw with beards and ties of appearance, they told him to wait,” Moshe Grisin said, according to Channel 12. “They started leading us to have one-on-one conversations. they were looking to hear us say “Uman” and then they wouldn’t let us in.”
He said 30 other people had been detained at the airport for more than 12 hours without kosher food, leading a man to pass out. He said they had been abused and that they had their phones taken away when they were looking to film. Other witnesses said some were held with barbed wire.
– יקי אדמקר (@YakiAdamker) 27 August 2020
Grisin added that airport officials completed the bureaucracy on his behalf by indicating that they were in a position to return to Israel.
The Foreign Office said the Israeli embassy was working with the government to ensure that the faithful were treated and obtained kosher food.
Later on Thursday, all travelers, however, were allowed to enter Ukraine, supposedly after the participation of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
A dozen more flights from Israel were scheduled to arrive in Ukraine on Thursday and Friday, before the radical access ban came into force. The Twelfth Channel reported that two flights would be allowed later on Thursday and in all likelihood more on Friday, but that at least two flights were cancelled.
The Thirteenth Channel indicated that the pilgrimage site was already full of faithful, who did not wear masks, did not stay outdoors or observe social estrangement.
Ukraine announced Wednesday that it would seal its borders to foreigners until September to stop coronavirus infections, preventing Israeli and Jewish pilgrims from traveling to Uman for Rosh Hashanah.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal also noted that the government would impose a ban on large gatherings in Ouman the Jewish New Year.
The announcement of the access ban came after Israel’s official reaction to the pandemic asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to spare him hajj, fearing that returning pilgrims could increase infection rates in the Jewish state.
Zelensky had announced tuesday that Ukraine would “significantly restrict” Jewish visitors’ access to Rosh Hashanah at Netanyahu’s request, but specified the extent to which the pilgrimage would be limited.
Netanyahu’s workplace temporarily denied that the prime minister had made such a request, in which he gave the impression of being an effort to appease his ultra-Orthodox allies.
But many members of Bratslav’s Hasidic sect held Netanyahu accountable and promised that they would never do so politically again.
While “protesting, flying everywhere and collecting in hotels and restaurants is good,” in the case of those who wish to travel for devout purposes, “they will do everything they can to thwart and denigrate, rather than executing in combination in a plan that Allow jasidim to travel,” he continued.
“We will never do Benjamin Netanyahu or whatever party he is,” he said. “Anyone who respects Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav deserves to do all he can to ensure the loss of those who fought for the rights of believers.”
According to the Twelfth Channel, after the Jasidim withdrew their support, Netanyahu told the rabbi leader that he was running to find a solution that would allow them to enter Ukraine and make a stopover at Eman.
Dozens of Bratslav Hasidim protested Thursday against Netanyahu’s policy in the northern Israeli city of Safed while the prime minister was staying in a city hotel.
Ukraine is one of the few countries that lately allows access to Israeli citizens, despite the maximum rate of coronavirus infection in the Jewish state.
JTA contributed to this report.