Relocants who fled because of the Ukrainian conflict found themselves in the epicenter of the Israeli war

Compatriots who found themselves on the fateful Shabbat in the Promised Land are divided into three categories: organized short-term tourists (their minority), those called “relocants” (who left the Russian Federation with the beginning of the Northern Military District and mobilization) and representatives of the Russian-speaking diaspora who have been living in Israel for a very long time or and even those born on the holy land from emigrant parents. With the advent of the “fresh” relocation wave from Russia, these people began to be called “old ones,” and over the past couple of years there have been almost fewer of them than new ones. But of all of them, they are the only ones who can do without fear and hatred; perhaps their long life on the Promised Land has taught them to treat any trials philosophically:

– Have you read “War and Peace”? – Literature teacher Rosa Naumovna answers with a question whether her family will run somewhere. – Old Prince Bolkonsky was ashamed to even think about escaping from his native Bald Mountains. He waited in his house for Napoleonic troops, gathered the servants and personally led them against the enemy, armed with pitchforks. And he defended his house. And on the other side of the ocean, the O’Hara family, when asked to flee from Tara, replied that this was their home, and they would meet the enemy in it. And just as soon as you run with your tail between your legs, you won’t run into them. There is turmoil everywhere in the world right now.

– But, judging by the news, you are no longer “almost”!

– Well, yes, it booms. Listen, I came here 40 years ago, and when I was driving, I already knew that sometimes there would be noise, that we have a communal apartment here with Palestinians. We have states of emergency more often than any other state. I came here not because I thought that I would be here in God’s bosom, I was brought by the dictates of my soul, against which Gaza’s attacks are powerless. And Israelis are taught to evacuate to a bomb shelter from infancy, every girl who goes to local schools is trained in self-defense, and after school she takes a machine gun and joins the army. Now our contribution is to obey the security services.

– Do you hate the Palestinians who kill your people?

– No, I am friends with many Palestinians. And I don’t hate anyone at all. Both of my granddaughters, born here, are both in their early 20s, and are eager to defend their homeland. And I tell them, they will protect you without you, but you still have to give birth to people in this country. There is no need to fight, but running away is a shame. Murder is the greatest of sins, and now both sides are already busy with it. And if you look at the history of the conflict between Israel and Palestine, you can argue for a long time. Argue – but you can only hate yourself, man is not perfect, and wars are, alas, typical behavior for humanity…

Forty years ago, Roza Naumovna was considered the best teacher of Russian and literature not only in her Moscow school, but in the entire region, but she dreamed of moving to Israel. Today she dreams “that as little as possible will die,” but neither she nor her family even have any thoughts of leaving. “Fresh” relocants from the Russian Federation argue completely differently; as a rule, these are Russians who received Israeli citizenship through the “express system”, which was launched specifically for Russians after the start of the SVO. To Israel’s credit, it did not demand the renunciation of Russian citizenship, so according to their second passport, these relocants are ordinary Russians. And now some of them are outraged that Russia is not providing them with evacuation flights.

“We are not some kind of foreign agents, just civilized people who have the right to live here and there all over the world,” says Veronica, a business woman from Moscow, who moved to Israel a year ago. – I have a full-fledged Russian passport, I pay taxes in Russia, why should I fly from Tel Aviv to Moscow for 200 thousand rubles on a flight that takes 29 hours with three transfers?! Is it really difficult to send a plane for your citizens? And then it bangs and bangs!

– Will there be enough people like you to fill a whole plane?

– Certainly! There are many of us here with dual citizenship. And no one wants to be killed by a barefoot barbarian from the Palestinian part. The Israelis also give, of course! Do you know that in their cities there are not even fences between Israeli and Palestinian streets?! Turned and bang, in Palestine! Men of military age, of course, will not return to Russia, but for the rest of us, why do we need someone else’s war?!

According to tour operators and Russian diplomats, there are currently no more than 100 organized Russian tourists in Israel. Despite the state of emergency, Ben Gurion Airport is operating as normal and those arriving on tours will be returned home according to the tickets purchased. But for those compatriots who found themselves on the fatal Shabbat, traveling around Israel on their own, the Russian Embassy recommends waiting out the aggravation in a secluded place outside the epicenters of hostilities.

“European, American, Turkish and carriers from the post-Soviet space have reduced or suspended flights to and over Israel,” the Russian consulate says. – Mostly Emirati and Russian airlines fly, they, of course, are sold out, and prices have soared. Therefore, if it is possible to wait in a safe place, it is better to wait. We have a hotline. Any problems, questions, assistance to compatriots in Israel.

According to our diplomats, it’s mainly relocants who call; organized tourists from the Russian Federation are silent; apparently, they are being instructed by their guides and tour operators. Representatives of the Russian Federation in the Middle East region also ask those Russian tourists who are currently vacationing in the resorts of Egypt and Jordan close to the Israeli border, and these are the Egyptian Taba and Dahab and the Jordanian Petra, Aqaba and the capital Amman, to exercise extreme caution.

“The main thing is not to be mistaken for an Israeli tourist,” say Russian divers who are now in Dahab. – If they accept it, then it doesn’t matter how far you are from the border. Over there in Alexandria, an Israeli tourist bus was shot, even the Egyptian guide was not spared.

“And literally on Friday, tourists who bought a two-day tour from Aqaba to Israel made a scandal that they paid the money, but the excursion was cancelled,” say our tourists in Jordan. – And now the heavens thank us, otherwise we would have gotten into the very mess. Their departure was scheduled for 4 am from Friday to Saturday.

While writing this article, tickets from Ben-Gurion to the Russian Federation were flying out before our eyes: first at affordable prices, and then at any price. As of 16.00 Moscow time on Sunday, the notorious ticket for 200 thousand rubles was purchased for 29 hours of ordeal at transit airports in the Middle East, while the net flight time from Ben-Gurion to Moscow is no more than 4 hours.