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FREE WEEKLY NEWSPAPER OF THE YEAR 10 February 2022
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9 Adar Rishon 5782
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Issue No.1248
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@JewishNewsUK
‘Operation Exodus’ for Ukraine’s Jews
Contingency plans in place to evacuate thousands EXCLUSIVE 1
2014 it supported Jews fleeing military conflict in Luhansk in eastern Ukraine, helping them By Stephen Oryszczuk to settle in Kharkiv, a city close Jewish diaspora charities from the to the Russian border. UK and US are working with Israeli “We rescue Jews in danger,” security teams on plans to evacuate the JDC said. “We have the Ukrainian Jews from the country in reach, the relationships, and the the event of war with Russia. resources to act. Out of a deep They have mobilised as the UK precommitment to save Jewish lives, pares to deploy Royal Marines, RAF we’ve launched numerous daring Typhoons and Royal Navy warships to operations into crisis zones. eastern Europe, with the United States “When there are threats to sending 3,000 troops. Jews or Jewish life today, we’re Circling Ukraine are more than there with boots on the ground 100,000 heavily armed Russian troops, and expertise to be a lifeline roughly 70 percent of an invasion force according to US intelligence, whose dire Charities support thousands of Jewish children in Ukraine or take them out of harm’s way. assessments have left Jewish organisaFor more than a century, we There are more than a dozen Jewish char- have been the global Jewish [emergency tions working in the country preparing for ities mainly from the US and UK currently service] 911.” the worst. Pressed on Ukraine this week, the While no organisation would confirm it operating in Ukraine, whose Jewish populacharity would only point to an old press publicly, Jewish News understands from sev- tion has been estimated at up to 200,000. Some, such as the American Jewish Joint statement from 25 January about its work eral sources that evacuation details for thousands of Ukrainian Jews have already been Distribution Committee (JDC), work in both with partners “to ensure the ongoing wellUkraine and Russia. In 2020, it spent £47 being and safety of our clients and staff and worked out. It is understood that plans include spe- million on aid in Ukraine, where it says it to prepare for emerging needs”. World Jewish Relief (WJR), based in cific cities, age groups, modes of transport, supports 40,000 Jews, while also spending London, works with JDC. It supports about routes and final destinations, which include £50 million on Jews in Russia. The JDC was behind the 1991 operation 8,000 often poor and elderly Ukrainian Jews, both European countries and Israel. We are not publishing any details of the to airlift 14,000 Ethiopian Jews out to Israel, some of them Holocaust survivors, through a proposed operation in order to preserve the instituting a “silent call system” and coor- network of local partner organisations, with Continued on page 16-17 dinating transport to the planes, while in integrity of the plans.
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CHIEF RABBI: WELBY IS TRUE FRIEND OF JEWS AND ISRAEL EXCLUSIVE 2 By Jenni Frazer
Archbishop Welby and Chief Rabbi
The Chief Rabbi this week hailed the Archbishop of Canterbury’s “sometimes courageous” support for British Jews while acknowledging he “disagreed” with elements of a recent article about Christians in the Middle East. “True friends will not always
agree,” Ephraim Mirvis reminded the archbishop’s critics, adding: “When we do differ, we must endeavour to do so constructively and respectfully. It is essential that we recognise and cherish who our real friends are, and Archbishop Welby is most certainly one of those.” Rabbi Mirvis said he had come to know Archbishop Justin Welby
“exceptionally well”. He described him as “a long-standing, genuine friend of the Jewish community and the State of Israel”. He noted, however, that he disagreed with some of the content of the Sunday Times article that Welby co-wrote with the Archbishop of Jerusalem. Nevertheless, the Chief Rabbi said, the archbishop had “consist-
ently spoken out against the evils of antisemitism, notably [in the Jeremy Corbyn era] ahead of the last general election”. “He has been outspoken about the importance of Holocaust education and has given his passionate support for the future Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre beside Parliament”. Chief relaunches charity, p6