Against the backdrop of the Ukraine-Russia conflict, Israel is preparing for an emergency intake of thousands of potential Ukrainian immigrants, Israel Hayom learned from sources on Saturday.
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Ministries, the Israel Defense Forces, the Jewish Agency, and other institutions have formulated a detailed plan in case Ukrainian Jews and those eligible under the Law of Return decide to flee to Israel in case of war.
The Aliyah and Integration Ministry, which leads the efforts, has begun preparations at Ben-Gurion International Airport, such as issuing Israeli identity cards, as well as providing hotel accommodations.
The Foreign Ministry has called on all Israelis in Ukraine to leave the country immediately.
The comments came as tensions over Russia's intentions toward Ukraine intensified. On Friday, US President Joe Biden said he was "convinced" that Russian President Vladimir Putin has decided to invade the neighboring country, and French President Emmanuel Macron said he had heard reports coming in of several casualties.
In an interview with BBC, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged Russia to seek diplomatic negotiations, and comprehend "the sheer cost in human life" that invading Ukraine would bring. It could lead to the largest hostilities in Europe since 1945, the end of World War II, he warned.
Meanwhile, the head of the European Union's Executive Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said on Saturday that Moscow would have its access to financial markets and high-tech goods limited under Western sanctions being prepared in case Russia attacks Ukraine.
"The Kremlin's dangerous thinking, which comes straight out of a dark past, may cost Russia a prosperous future," she said during the annual Munich Security Conference, where US Vice President Kamala Harris also spoke.
Von der Leyen said the EU's executive arm has developed a "robust and comprehensive package" of possible financial sanctions against Russia with the US, UK, and Canada.
"In case Russia strikes, we will limit the access to financial markets for the Russian economy and [impose] export controls that will stop the possibility for Russia to modernize and diversify its economy," she added. "And we have a lot of high-tech goods where we have a global dominance, and that are absolutely necessary for Russia and cannot be replaced easily."
Johnson, who also attended the conference, said Britain was coordinating its sanctions closely with the EU.
"If Russia invades its neighbor, we will sanction Russian individuals and companies of strategic importance to the Russian state and we will make it impossible for them to raise finance on the London capital markets," he said, adding that authorities would look for "the ultimate beneficiaries" of Russian-owned companies and entities.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that during a meeting Tuesday with Putin he "made clear that any further violation of the territorial integrity of Ukraine will have high costs for Russia, politically, economically and geo-strategically."
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who also attended the conference, called for Putin to meet him and seek resolution to the crisis.
"I don't know what the president of the Russian Federation wants, so I am proposing a meeting," he said, adding that Moscow could pick the location for the talks.
"Ukraine will continue to follow only the diplomatic path for the sake of a peaceful settlement," Zelenskyy said.
There was no immediate response from the Kremlin.
The Ukrainian president spoke hours after separatist leaders in eastern Ukraine ordered a full military mobilization on Saturday while Western leaders made increasingly dire warnings that a Russian invasion of its neighbor appeared imminent.
In new signs of fears that a war could start within days, Germany and Austria told their citizens to leave Ukraine. German air carrier Lufthansa canceled flights to the capital, Kyiv, and to Odessa, a Black Sea port that could be a key target in an invasion. NATO's liaison office in Kyiv said it was relocating staff to Brussels and to the western Ukraine city of Lviv.
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Violence in eastern Ukraine has spiked in recent days as Ukraine and the two regions held by the rebels each accused the other of escalation. Russia on Saturday said at least two shells fired from a government-held part of eastern Ukraine landed across the border, but Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba dismissed the statement as "fake."
Sporadic violence has broken out for years along the line separating Ukrainian forces from the Russia-backed rebels, but the recent shelling and bombing spike could set off a full-scale war.
The United States and many European countries have alleged for months that Russia, which has moved about 150,000 troops near the Ukrainian border, is trying to create pretexts to invade.
"They are uncoiling and are now poised to strike," US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Saturday during a visit to Lithuania.
Harris opened her meeting with Zelenskyy by saying the world was at "a decisive moment in history."
On Sunday, Johnson said the US and Britain would cut off Russian companies' access to US dollars and British pounds if the Kremlin orders an invasion of Ukraine.
