The Israeli government is reportedly preparing for the possibility of thousands of Ukrainian Jews immigrating to the Jewish state in the event of a Russian invasion.
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Representatives of various Israeli government bodies met Sunday to discuss such a development, including the Prime Minister's Office, Foreign Ministry, Defense Ministry, Diaspora Affairs Ministry, and the Jewish Agency.
Also involved in the government briefing was Nativ, the organization that maintains connections between Israel and Jews in former Soviet bloc countries, the Haaretz daily newspaper reported.
Some 75,000 people living in eastern Ukraine are eligible for Israeli citizenship under the Law of Return.
Israel already has plans in place for the mass evacuation of Jews from various countries should the need arise, and recently updated those plans for Ukraine due to its rising tensions with Russia.
While there is currently no major rise in the number of Ukrainian Jews requesting to immigrate to Israel, and while many of those may not even seek to be evacuated or move to Israel, the situation could become the largest evacuation of Jews from a war-torn country in decades, according to the Haaretz report.
Meanwhile, the US State Department on Sunday ordered the families of its diplomats in Ukraine's capital Kyiv to leave the country "due to the continued threat of Russian military action."
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Washington also recently authorized the "voluntary" departure of its embassy employees.
Russia continues to mass tens of thousands of troops on its border with Ukraine, causing concerns over European security and a possible invasion by Moscow of Ukraine.
i24NEWS contributed to this report.
