Israeli Ambassador to Ukraine Michael Brodsky predicts that the amount of Hassidic pilgrims traveling to the city of Uman for the Jewish New Year will double this year.
In an interview with RBC-Ukraine, the diplomat stated: "According to our forecasts, almost twice as many people will come this year than last year."
He explained: "I think that last year there were still fears because of the security situation, but since nothing extraordinary happened, they believe that it will be safe there. Although we continue to talk about the fact that Ukraine is not the safest place in the world, there is a war and anything can happen. Since Ukraine has not restricted the entry of pilgrims in any way, and Israel cannot do it technically, cannot and does not want to do it, tens of thousands of pilgrims will come this year as well."
Brodsky also discussed the growing opposition to Israel as the war progresses: "Unfortunately, the world loves dead Jews very much, loves when Jews suffer, is ready to show pity. And they don't like it when Israel fights back and tries to defend itself.
"Unfortunately, we live in a "villa in the jungle" situation in the Middle East. We are forced to confront forces operating under 19th-century laws while being in the 21st century. And the expectations that are placed on us, the norms that are placed on us, are suitable for the 21st century, but not suitable for the 19th century. It is necessary to understand that we are not dealing with a standard threat, we are not dealing with regular armies, we are dealing with terrorists. One of the main differences between terror and war with a regular army is that terror operates from the thick of the civilian population. This is what is happening in Gaza," the Ambassador continued.
He added: "Therefore, it is impossible to fight terrorists sterilely, it is impossible to separate terrorists from the civilian population, given that terrorists use the civilian population as a human shield, hide behind it, hide behind their own families, behind their own wives, children, etc., and keep the civilian population as hostages. Therefore, it is clear that in any military operation against terror, there will be civilian casualties. Israel never intended to harm the civilian population of the Gaza Strip."