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(Communicated by the MFA Spokesperson)

Minister of Foreign Affairs Yair Lapid today (Sunday, March 13, 2022) visited the Siret border crossing between Ukraine and Romania. Following are his remarks:

“We will not close our gates and our hearts to people who have lost everything. We have a moral obligation to be part of the international effort to help refugees from Ukraine find a warm home and a bed to sleep in. It is our duty to not only be good Jews, but also good people.

“Israel has nine million residents, and our Jewish identity will not be harmed by several thousand additional refugees. On the contrary, our children will learn an important lesson about morality and responsibility.

“On the other hand, we are clearly unable to absorb tens of thousands of non-Jewish refugees. So, the solution is not that everyone speaks out to their political base, but in balanced and proportionate management.

“It is possible to bring in more refugees, we should be much more generous. However, it is impossible to bring in refugees without restriction. The government will find this balance. That's our job.

“What are both unforgivable and unbearable are the mistakes made in dealing with refugees who have already arrived in Israel. The pictures of an old woman and her granddaughter sleeping on the floor at Ben Gurion Airport cannot be repeated.

“We will treat these refugees in the same manner we would expect our own grandmother and children to be treated. We have been put to the test and have not succeeded very well. This has been corrected over the past two days, and we will ensure that from now on it will be handled with a completely different approach.”