Seven Israelis have been detained for more than four hours at Ukraine’s international airport, Channel 12 reports, and are being deported back to Israel amid a tiff between Jerusalem and Kyiv.
The Israelis, who include journalist Shai Golden and singer Elkana Marciano, are waiting for a flight back to Israel, which they will be able to board only if there are empty seats left.
Avichai Shahaf, one of those detained, is quoted as saying that the Ukrainian officials have expressly admitted the detention is political.
“The Ukrainians told us Israel is returning their people so they decided to return us,” he says, adding that the matter is being dealt with by the Israeli embassy and the foreign minister.
Shira Ronen, the wife of one of the detainees, is quoted as saying the men came for a quick visit to the city of Uman, a pilgrimage site for many Hasidic Jews where a prominent rabbi is buried.
“They are waiting at the airport and not doing anything. They put a policeman next to them and they aren’t allowed to go anywhere. I understood they tried to find out what happened and weren’t given any answers,” she says.
Similar incidents have happened several times in Ukraine over the past year. In recent weeks authorities in neighboring Russia also detained several groups of Israelis without giving a reason.
Help us report truthfully on social media
As a multimedia journalist, my job is to take the quality, fact-based journalism produced by The Times of Israel newsroom and make it accessible across every platform — from Instagram posts to podcasts to short-form videos.
This is how many, especially young people, consume news these days. But misinformation is rampant on social media. Our team at ToI produces accurate, responsible short-form reporting on Israel and the Jewish world.
If you believe in the importance of factual social media journalism, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to sustain responsible multimedia reporting.
— Gabriella Jacobs, multimedia journalist
Support our work
Support our work
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
You're a dedicated reader
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you,
David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
Join Our Community
Join Our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
From 
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
