Putin orders government to compile list of countries that sanctioned Russia

Author: Published: March 6, 2022
Today, 11:36 pm  

 

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a flag-raising ceremony on the ferry Marshal Rokossovsky via a video link at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside Moscow, on March 4, 2022. (Andrey Gorshkov/Sputnik/AFP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a flag-raising ceremony on the ferry Marshal Rokossovsky via a video link at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside Moscow, on March 4, 2022. (Andrey Gorshkov/Sputnik/AFP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin has instructed the government to compile a list of countries that have imposed sanctions on the country, or Russian companies, organizations, and individuals, the state news agency RIA-Novosti reports.

A presidential decree requires the government to compile the list within two days, the report says.

It is not immediately clear what the exact purpose of the list is.

The United States and European allies imposed tough sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.

Israel to recognize Ukrainian olim as refugees fleeing war zone

Author: Published: March 5, 2022

The decision means that Ukrainian immigrants will receive a significant four-figure or five-figure grant from the Israeli government.

By ZVIKA KLEIN
Published: MARCH 5, 2022 21:14
Israelis protest Russia's invasion of Ukraine in front of the Russian embassy in Tel Aviv (photo credit: AVSHALOM SASSONI/MAARIV)
Israelis protest Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in front of the Russian embassy in Tel Aviv
(photo credit: AVSHALOM SASSONI/MAARIV)

Israel’s Aliyah and Integration Ministry, which will be dealing with a large influx of immigrants this coming week, has made a dramatic decision to recognize immigrants coming from Ukraine as refugees fleeing the area of fighting and emergency.

This means that the immigrants who come from Ukraine will receive a significant one-time grant due to being someone who comes from battle zones.

The ministry decided, according to the decision of the Aliyah and Integration Minister Pnina Tamano-Shata, to grant new Israeli citizens who are Ukrainian refugees a one-time grant, in addition to the absorption of financial packages and temporary housing in a hotel or motel.

According to the ministry’s decision, every single immigrant who comes from Ukraine will receive a one-time grant of about NIS 6,000, a couple will receive NIS 11,000 and a family will receive NIS 15,000.

The ministry explains that “the decision to offer a grant to the refugees is due to the fact that the immigrants coming from Ukraine are not prepared for their aliyah – for all that it entails and were forced to leave their home in a hurry and without their belongings.

The Aliyah and Integration Ministry has been preparing in recent weeks for the absorption of thousands of immigrants from Ukraine.”

ALIYAH AND INTEGRATION Minister Pnina Tamano-Shata speaks at a meeting in the Knesset with the Jewish People’s Lobby in November. (credit: YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90)ALIYAH AND INTEGRATION Minister Pnina Tamano-Shata speaks at a meeting in the Knesset with the Jewish People’s Lobby in November. (credit: YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90)

From the assessment made by the ministry, it is clear that the immigrants who will arrive, from the beginning of next week, will arrive with very little equipment and clothing due to the circumstances.

The ministry also continues to publish a “call for proposals” to find more hotels, extension homes, and hostels that will accommodate the immigrants at least for the first few days.

As early as last week, the ministry published a call for proposals for rooms for the absorption of immigrants and to date, several companies have submitted bids for the same call.

The ministry has allocated about 12,000 rooms in hotels in cooperation with the Israel Hotels Association, guest houses and housing clusters throughout the country, including between 2,000-3,000 in the north of the country, about 6,000 in the center of the country, 200 optional rooms in hostels and 90 apartments in housing clusters.

Every day, situational assessments are conducted under the leadership of the Tamano-Shata and with the participation of government ministries and immigration organizations.

Last week, the Aliyah and Integration Ministry convened an emergency hearing during which Tamano-Shata instructed the relevant ministry staff to remove bureaucratic barriers to issuing immigration visas digitally.

https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/article-700427

Herzog to meet with Turkey’s Erdogan in Ankara on Wednesday

Author: Published: March 5, 2022

Trip will be the first by an Israeli leader since 2008, as diplomatic relations thaw; president will also visit Istanbul to meet with Jewish community

By TOI STAFFToday, 8:54 pm  

 

President Isaac Herzog (left) and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (right). (AP)

President Isaac Herzog (left) and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (right). (AP)

President Issac Herzog will visit Turkey on Wednesday, where he will meet with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan, his office confirmed on Saturday.

This will be the first visit to Turkey by an Israeli leader since 2008.

According to the statement, Herzog is set to visit the capital of Ankara, where he will be received by Erdogan in an official welcoming ceremony at the Presidential Complex.

The two leaders are set to discuss various bilateral issues, including Israel-Turkey relations and the potential for expanding collaboration between their respective states and peoples in various fields, the statement said.

He will also visit Istanbul, where he is set to meet with members of the local Jewish community.

The president will be accompanied on the trip by his wife Michal.

Ties between the two former allies have appeared to thaw in recent months, as Erdogan made a number of statements about possible cooperation with Israel.

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, right, shakes hands with Hamas terrorist movement chief Ismail Haniyeh, prior to their meeting in Istanbul, on February 1, 2020. (Presidential Press Service via AP, Pool)

Israel officials are expected to keep a close watch on events during the visit to ensure that Turkey, which staunchly backs the Palestinians, doesn’t catch Herzog off-guard and embarrass him in some way.

Last month, Erdogan said that Herzog’s upcoming visit to Ankara will be beneficial for both nations.

Turkey is currently being battered by an economic crisis, while Israel and a group of regional countries, including Turkey’s rival Greece, have been working on a joint pipeline to bring eastern Mediterranean gas to Europe, in a deal signed in January 2020.

Turkey has strongly opposed the project and staked its own territorial claims to the region’s energy wealth.

After the Biden administration dropped its support for the controversial gas pipeline last month, Erdogan indicated that he wanted Turkey to be involved in the import of Israeli gas to Europe, saying there had been “some progress” on the matter in the past, and suggesting a new project that would involve Ankara.

Once robust regional allies, Israel and Turkey saw their ties fray during Erdogan’s tenure, during which the Turkish leader has been an outspoken critic of Israel’s policies toward the Palestinians.

Israel has been upset by Erdogan’s warm relations with Hamas, the terror group that controls the Gaza Strip.

The countries reciprocally withdrew their ambassadors in 2010 after Israeli forces boarded a Gaza-bound flotilla carrying humanitarian aid for the Palestinians that attempted to break an Israeli blockade. Though most of the participating vessels were boarded without incident, those aboard a Turkish ferry boat violently resisted the Israeli action, resulting in the deaths of nine Turkish activists.

Relations slowly improved but broke down again in 2018, after Turkey, angered by the United States moving its embassy to Jerusalem, once more recalled its envoy from Israel, prompting Israel to reciprocate.

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