Israel said planning to spend $5.3 million to facilitate Hasidic pilgrimage to Ukraine

By Ariela Karmel

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4 September 2025, 10:36 pm

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Ariela Karmel is a political correspondent at The Times of Israel. She previously reported for Calcalist and Haaretz. She holds an MA in Middle Eastern and African History from Tel Aviv University and a BA in Political Science from the University of British Columbia.

Jewish visitors seen in the street of Uman, ahead of the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah, September 30, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/ Flash90/ File)

Israel will spend an estimated NIS 20 million ($5.3 million) to enable tens of thousands of Hasidic Jews to travel to Uman, Ukraine in an annual pilgrimage to the grave of Hasidic leader Rabbi Nachman of Breslov over the Rosh Hashanah holiday in September, according to a Channel 12 report.

Of that, NIS 8.7 million ($2.6 million) alone will be spent on the construction of a temporary terminal in Chișinău, in neighboring Moldova, which is expected to process some 500 pilgrims per hour.

Due to the war in Ukraine, most pilgrims will have to travel via Moldova.

Beyond that, expenses for food, policing, and security are expected to total around NIS 7 million ($1.9 million). Israel will send a support team of 90 security guards during flights, 24 police officers, and 50 translators.

The funds will be transferred directly from Israel to the Moldovan government, which demanded that Israel fund the terminal’s construction and provide security and logistical support as conditions for its cooperation.

According to a Hebrew media report in August, Israel had until September 3 to transfer the full amount for the operation to the Moldovan government, or it would not be allowed to proceed.

However, a senior government official cited in Channel 12’s report says that Israel has yet to approve the plan and that “the government cannot operate on such a timetable.”

Reports of the funding have sparked outrage in Israel, which has faced severe budget cuts amid the almost two-year war in Gaza and in light of the ongoing controversy over attempts to exempt the ultra-Orthodox from military service.

Haredi leaders have been pressing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to allow ultra-Orthodox draft draft dodgers to be allowed out of the country to take part in the pilgrimage.

Ukraine has also expressed reservations about allowing in pilgrims this year, due to the ongoing war with Russia.