Due to Israel's unique relations with Ukraine and Russia, the Jewish State's official stance has been very carefully worded in everything related to the war between the two countries. On the one hand, the country has refrained from publicly rebuking the Russian regime so as not to disrupt anti-Iranian missions in Syria, while on the other hand, Israelis have been aiding the victims on the Ukrainian side because one thing is clear to all, Ukraine’s citizens are suffering both mentally and physically from the ongoing war.
Now, a new initiative is being implemented in which Israel has quite a bit of experience, assistance with mental resilience, and post-trauma treatment. This past Wednesday, Victoria Kristenko, the deputy mayor of Lviv, came to visit Sderot, a city that has been at the heart of Hamas rocket targeting for over 20 years. The purpose of the visit was to summarize the work plans for the treatment of Ukrainian citizens based on resilience plans built in the Gaza Strip during more than two decades of rocket fire.
The director of the International Resilience Center in Sderot, Ayelet Shmuel, told Yedioth Ahronoth how working with Ukrainians will be done, in cooperation with the organization "Lev Ehad" (One Heart) which focuses on PTSD among fellow Israelis. "We start working immediately and without delay. In the first step, we will map out their needs and give them help and training, along with work programs and solutions to strengthen the community and the education system. We will work through the schools and thus reach the entire population."
#Israel’s new far-right government is unlikely to change the country’s approach to the war in #Ukraine, choosing to further walk a tightrope that avoids upsetting Russia and the United States.https://t.co/zvA8e8y3Lk
— Danny Albu (@Dann_90Albu) January 12, 2023
Ayelet also added that “In our meeting with the teams from there [Ukraine] we realized they are really in a state of deep depression, the whole community and especially the children. We will take the actions of resilience and train them. I believe it will be a combination, that they will come to us and we will reach them."
Tomer Dror, CEO, and co-founder of the "Lev Ehad" organization, who initiated the meeting also noted that "The State of Israel does not only have high-tech and weapons to export, but also vast knowledge in the social and psychological field of dealing with emergency situations. Meanwhile, in the last year, we have been transferring to Ukrainians in general, and to the municipality of Lviv in particular, the knowledge and experience we have accumulated over the years in the State of Israel."
Ukraine turns to Israel for insights on coping with trauma amid war with Russia: Ukrainian officials arrive in Sderot, a recurrent target of Gaza rocket fire, to learn how to strengthen populace’s mental fortitude under constant threat of war https://t.co/TIiwkG2JDy Ynet-Culture
— Jewish Community (@JComm_NewsFeeds) January 12, 2023
Dror continued, “our organization operated in Sderot during the most difficult days. A key part of what we plan on doing in Ukraine was based on our experience here in Sderot. Therefore, the first place we chose to take the deputy mayor to is Sderot."
