Officials also discussed aiding children with cancer and providing treatment for injured Ukrainian soldiers.
By Sharon Wrobel, The Algemeiner
Israel will fly injured Ukrainians to its country for medical treatment and allocate millions of shekels to send more medicine directly to the war-torn country, Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz announced Wednesday.
Horowitz discussed the humanitarian aid plans over a Zoom meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart Viktor Liashko. Ukrainian Ambassador in Israel Yevgen Korniychuk and Israeli Ambassador in Ukraine Michael Brodsky were also in attendance.
“I made it clear again: Israel condemns Russia’s brutal invasion and stands by Ukraine,” Horowitz wrote on Twitter after the exchange. “This is our unequivocal position, and we back it up with deeds.”
According to the Ukrainian Embassy in Israel, the ministers discussed options for providing medical treatment for injured Ukrainian soldiers on the call. Liashko told Horowitz that Ukraine opened a register of servicemen in need of medical attention.
Additionally, the ministers spoke about aiding Ukrainian children with cancer by supplying necessary medicine and treatment protocols, the embassy said. Liashko also asked Israel to help provide medicine that is out of stock and immediately needed in Ukraine.
Israel closed down its Kochav Meir (Shining Star) field hospital in western Ukraine earlier this month, after treating 6,000 patients over six weeks. In April, a seven-year-old Ukrainian boy suffering from a rare degenerative disease was evacuated from Ukraine with Israeli government help and rushed to a Tel Aviv area hospital in an attempt to save his eyesight.
Israel has sought to mediate in the Ukraine-Russia conflict while managing regional security interests involving Moscow — criticizing Russia’s invasion, but limiting its support for Kyiv to tons of humanitarian aid.
Israel’s Defense Ministry announced Wednesday that the country delivered 2,000 helmets and 500 vests for emergency and civilian organizations in Ukraine.
Ambassador Brodsky this week returned to Kyiv to reopen the Israeli embassy in the Ukrainian capital. Brodsky hoisted the Israeli flag near the embassy for the first time since its staff was evacuated from the capital almost three months ago, just before hostilities began.