The 47-year-old native of Ukraine was stuck in Kiev, having flown into the capital from Israel for her mother’s funeral. Since May 31, the woman has been writing daily requests to the Israeli Ministry of Internal Affairs to allow her to enter home, but so far there has been no result.
This was announced on Monday, June 7, “News“, to whose journalists Valentina turned for help.” I don’t know what to do, help me to return to Israel to my daughter and husband, “the woman asked.
She said that she came to Jerusalem four years ago to see her husband. As the spouse of an Israeli, Valentina undergoes a stepwise procedure for recognition of citizenship. Has a residence permit (5-aleph visa), works, pays taxes.
On May 18, Valentina’s mother, who lives in Ukraine, died. The daughter urgently flew to the funeral.
The flight from Kiev back to Israel went smoothly, but at passport control at Ben Gurion airport the woman was stopped and deported to Ukraine without explanation, Valentina said.
“They took my passport and, without explaining anything, took me to a separate room. I got worried, started asking: what is the reason for the delay, what is I being accused of? The border guards answered something unintelligible. I will be deported to Ukraine. At 5:30 I was put on a plane and expelled from Israel, “the Ukrainian woman said.
While she is in Kiev and lives with an elderly father. “Since May 31, I have been writing daily requests to the Israeli Ministry of Internal Affairs to allow me to enter home, to my family, to my daughter. But no one responds to my requests! I am in a state of shock – not only have I lost my mother, I still cannot return to your own child. How can this be? ” She asked.
Journalists pointed out that since May 3, Israel has included Ukraine in the list of “red” countries due to the coronavirus pandemic. To travel to this country, Israeli citizens must obtain permission from the Commission for Emergency Cases (Vaadat Harigim). Departure to the funeral of first-degree relatives (parents, children, brothers, sisters) is one of the criteria by which the commission issues permits.
However, according to Valentina, she was not aware of this: “Nobody at any stage of the trip, even when crossing the Israeli border and boarding a plane, asked me for this permission.”
The Department of Population Registration and Migration under the Ministry of Internal Affairs commented on the situation as follows:
“The need to obtain permission to board a plane has existed and has been published to the public for about a year. This topic has been widely covered in the media, and this is not an innovation. Thus, it is impossible to appeal to ignorance of this fact.”
When asked by journalists about what to do to Valentina in the current situation, the department preferred not to give an answer.
As previously wrote OBOZREVATEL, every year the number of those wishing to obtain Israeli citizenship is only growing. The Israeli passport is also in great demand among the citizens of Ukraine. You can read about how to obtain citizenship and what documents are needed for this. link.
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