Like Viktoria and her children, thousands of Ukrainians welcomed to Israel

Audio 01:20

Viktoria and her three children, aged 1 to 13.

They have just left kyiv to settle as Israeli citizens near Haifa.

© RFI/Sami Boukhelifa

Text by: RFI Follow

1 min

More than 5,000 Ukrainians, fleeing the war, welcomed in Israel.

And another 5,000 expected by next week.

All do not necessarily have refugee status: Jewish Ukrainians, or descendants of Jews, automatically obtain Israeli citizenship.

This facilitates their integration into society.

Viktoria and her three children left kyiv at the start of the war.

They are now trying to rebuild their lives near Haifa.

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With our special correspondent in the suburbs of Haifa,

Crossing Ukraine, checkpoints, curfew;

a long journey of several days to Moldova.

In this neighboring country, Viktoria and her three children quickly contact the Israeli Embassy.

My grandmother is Jewish, that's why we chose to come to Israel.

I did not encounter any difficulty in the immigration procedure.

I had in my possession all the required documents

Their priority, with her husband: to shelter their children, far from Russian bombs.

Dimitri stayed in kyiv to fight.

Several times a day, Viktoria calls him for news.

" 

 , ”says the father of the family.

Viktoria salutes her husband's courage.

He must defend the country.

This attack turned our lives upside down.

We left everything: our daily lives, our friends, the children's school.

My husband will join us when the war is over

In Israel, Ukrainians fleeing the war are accommodated in hotels or army bases.

Interim solutions.

Viktoria and her family are staying with relatives in Haifa, in northern Israel.

From next week, the children will go to school, or to the crèche.

And the mother of the family will begin her Hebrew lessons.

►Read again: The Israeli strategy of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky

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• Israel

• Ukraine

• Refugees

• Judaism