Moldova refuses to let Hasidim into Ukraine due to Israel's debts

More than 16,000 pilgrims who had already booked flights via Moldova recently received notifications of flight cancellations. Photo: paparazzza/Shutterstock.com

Moldova has refused to organize transit for tens of thousands of Israeli pilgrims planning to travel to Uman via Chisinau Airport. According to the website Mako, the transit through Moldova for Hasidim is closed due to a financial issue – Israel has yet to settle its payment with Moldova for additional security measures provided for Hasidim during last year’s pilgrimage.

Moldova was promised a modest sum of 700,000 shekels (approximately $190,000). On August 30, Israeli media reported that the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had finally found budgetary sources to pay off this debt. However, Mako correspondent Shimon Ifargan reports that the Israeli government completely denies the existence of the debt, claiming that private organizers of the Hasidic pilgrimage owe the money to Chisinau.

It is reported that thousands of Israeli pilgrims who purchased tickets to Chisinau with the intention of traveling from there to Ukraine have already received notifications from airlines that Moldova will not allow them to pass through border checkpoints. One of the Hasidim said in an interview with Mako that he had paid "a lot of money" for the ticket, and now he has no ticket and no money, but the Hasidim will still make it to Uman no matter what – "even if Putin bombs it."

Rabbi Natan Ben-Nun, head of the "Ihud Breslov Be-Uman" organization, which manages the complex of the tomb of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov in Uman, sent a letter to Knesset members on behalf of the Breslov Hasidim, pleading for the crisis to be resolved.

"Last year, the government intervened in this matter, but unfortunately, this year the state is completely ignoring it. In response to Moldova’s inquiries, officials here in Israel have said that they are not interested in this issue," wrote Rabbi Ben-Nun.

As previously reported by the UOJ, DESS promises to provide all necessary conditions for the Hasidim in Uman. However, the head of the Cherkasy Regional Military Administration asked the Hasidim to refrain from traveling to Uman.

Earlier, Prime Minister Netanyahu called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and discussed the organization of the pilgrimage to Uman.

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