Ukrainian officials warned on Saturday that Israeli citizens may be prevented from entering the city of Uman for the upcoming High Holidays, amid growing tensions with Jerusalem.
Kyiv is angered by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision not to call Ukrainian leaders on Independence Day last week, a gesture viewed as an important sign of support.
A senior Ukrainian official told The Jerusalem Post: “We demand financial support and assistance from the Israeli police on this matter.”
There have been crises surrounding this issue in the past, and it has generally been resolved.
Israel has said it will allow haredi draft dodgers to fly to Uman and other destinations for annual pilgrimages ahead of the holidays, beginning on September 22.
Young ultra-Orthodox (haredi) men of enlistment age must not be allowed to go to Uman or other pilgrimage sites outside the country for Rosh Hashanah, Deputy Attorney-General Gil Limon said in a statement on Friday.
Limon further noted that the government does not have the authority to create a plan that would interfere with law enforcement activities, specifically regarding permitting draft dodgers to leave the country.
In a statement written to two attorneys representing petitioners to the High Court of Justice regarding the matter, Limon wrote that the subject of draft dodgers going to Uman had not yet been brought to the Attorney-General’s Office, and that they were unaware of the particulars of the agreement.
However, “a plan with the purpose of avoiding exercising law enforcement against draftees who do not enlist and who violate their obligations under the Security Service Law… is contrary to the law,” the deputy A-G wrote. “Such avoidance contradicts the state’s obligation to enforce the draft in an equitable manner.”
Grave of spiritual founder of Breslov hassidim located in Uman
Breslov Union chairman Rabbi Natan Ben-Nun was critical of the statement and said he hopes a solution will be found to allow yeshiva students to still visit Uman.
“We regret that the attorney-general found the time to prevent Breslov hassidim from fulfilling their religious obligation to come to Uman for Rosh Hashanah,” Ben-Nun said, haredi media outlet JDN reported.
"Rabbi Nachman, the spiritual founder of Breslov hassidim, whose grave in Uman is the main pilgrimage site in the city, said that Rosh Hashanah surpasses everything, and we are prepared in Uman for the arrival of the rabbis. We hope that a solution will be found soon so that yeshiva students will also be able to fly to Uman without fear of departure delays or threats of arrest.”
This is a developing story.