Israel’s Ambassador in Moscow Alexander Ben-Tzvi held a meeting last week with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov on the issue of Jews gathering in Uman for Rosh Hashanah. Ben-Tzvi informed Bogdanov that although Israel issued travel warnings to Ukraine and Ukrainian officials warned Israeli not to come, there are already several thousand Israelis in Uman. Israel’s Channel 12 News reported that Bogdanov told Ben-Tzvi that Russia won’t guarantee the welfare of the Jews in Uman. “This is a real danger,” Bogdanov said. “Russia cannot guarantee the Israelis’ safety.” Nevertheless, Bogdanov asked for further information about the Israeli presence in Uman so that he could pass it on to the relevant authorities in the Russian army. Meanwhile, in light of the many thousands of Jews already in Uman, volunteers of the United Hatzalah branch in Uman are busy with a dramatic increase in the number of calls for their services. Mattis Shapiro, head of Hatzalah Uman, said: “Hatzalah volunteers, in cooperation with medics and paramedics from Israel and the US, will work in shifts around the clock to provide an immediate response to cases that are received at the lcoal emergency hotline 063-800-1221. It should be noted that as part of the streamlining of the security operation, Hatzalah volunteers hung up dozens of regional number signs in 15 areas near the kever in Uman – facilitating the rapid arrival of emergency and rescue forces.” Aharon Ben Harosh, deputy head of Hatzalah Uman, said: “We equipped all the Uman ambulances with the necessary medical equipment in order to provide a quick response to the volunteers in Uman and in Ukraine for any emergency and medical assistance.” (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

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