“The situation of Jewish communities in Ukraine in light of the serious energy crisis” – a meeting was held in Israel, convened at the initiative of the co-chair of the Israel-Ukraine intergovernmental commission

On January 22, 2026, an emergency meeting was held in Israel regarding the situation of Jewish communities in Ukraine amidst a severe energy crisis. The focus of the discussion was on winter, power outages, and heating, as well as urgent support requests from communities in Ukraine.

Importantly, the announcement of this meeting was published not “somewhere in the news,” but on the official page: Office of the Prime Minister of Israel and the organization “Nativ”. This means the source is governmental, official, with a direct connection to structures responsible for diaspora relations and interaction with the Ukrainian direction.

The meeting was convened at the initiative of the co-chair of the Israel-Ukraine intergovernmental commission and Minister in the Ministry of Finance Zeev Elkin, overseeing the activities of “Nativ,” and the chairman of the board of the Jewish Agency “Sohnut” Doron Almog. The reason was appeals from leaders of Jewish communities in Ukraine requesting urgent assistance.

The meeting was attended by representatives of relevant departments and organizations, including the Director General of the Ministry of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism Avi Cohen Sakli, head of the repatriation and integration direction of “Sohnut” Eran Berkovich, head of “Nativ” at the Prime Minister’s Office Alon Shoham, Deputy Director General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and head of the Euro-Asian Department Yuval Fuchs, Deputy Director General of “Joint” for CIS countries Ayelet Tal, and other participants.

The official press release explicitly states that the discussion is related to the “acute energy crisis situation caused by the prolonged war of Russia against Ukraine”. This is an important formulation: the document at the state level directly links the situation of the communities with the war unleashed by Putin’s Russia and its infrastructural consequences, where strikes on energy make life in winter truly dangerous.

But then begins what is difficult for the reader to accept “on faith” without clarifications. The release states that participants discussed the difficult situation of the communities, considered urgent steps, and decided on cooperation between all mentioned organizations together with the Jewish communities of Ukraine. However, the text does not specify what exactly was decided, what measures are planned, in what timeframes, who is responsible for implementation, and what resources will be allocated.

So at the moment, from the official publication, the main thing can be understood: the topic is recognized as critical, coordination has been launched, and the connection of the crisis with the war of Russia against Ukraine is stated directly. However, the key question remains open — what practical solutions will follow the meeting and when will the communities in Ukraine feel the support on the ground.

If the Office of the Prime Minister and “Nativ” provide a follow-up — with a list of measures, volumes of support, and a schedule of actions — this will be the specifics that communities are now waiting for, and that readers want to see, trying to understand what such emergency meetings result in.
NANews — News of Israel | Nikk.Agency