President Isaac Herzog spoke on Thursday with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who expressed sorrow over the previous day's twin bombings in Jerusalem.
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Zelenskyy called on the Israeli people to remain strong in the face of the terror attacks that resulted in the killing of 16-year-old yeshiva student Aryeh Shechopek. More than 20 other persons were wounded in the two explosions that targeted bus stops near entrances to the capital during the morning rush hour.
Herzog thanked Zelenskyy for his kind words and added that the Israeli public is concerned for the well-being of the Ukrainian people and is working in various ways to alleviate its suffering. In March, shortly after the outbreak of the war, Israel was the first to set up a field hospital on Ukrainian territory and supplied other humanitarian aid as well.
Zelenskyy underscored the deep connection between Israel and Ukraine, which he said exists not only between leaders but also between people, including many Jewish immigrants to Israel from Ukraine. He welcomed the conclusion of elections in Israel and expressed hope for cooperation with the next government.
Herzog described the process of government formation and noted a desire to maintain dialogue with Kyiv on a number of humanitarian issues, especially concerning the approaching winter, immediately upon the establishment of the next government. Ukraine is in the midst of an energy grisis after a recent missile onslaught robbed cities of power and some of water and public transport, too, compounding the hardship of winter for millions.
Multiple regions reported attacks in quick succession and cascading outages. Ukraine's Energy Ministry said supplies were cut to "the vast majority of electricity consumers." Lviv's trams and trolleybuses stopped running as the city in western Ukraine lost both power and water, the mayor said. All of Kyiv lost water, the capital's mayor said. Power also went out and public transport stopped in Kharkiv, the mayor of that northeastern city, Ukraine's second largest, said.
Tweeting after his conversation with Herzog, Zelenskyy said he had invited Israel to join the Grain from Ukraine initiative, in which countries buy crops from Ukraine to send to Africa to alleviate hunger.
JNS.org contributed to this report.
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