FLASH
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Many Ukrainians see strong similarities between the October 7 attack by Hamas on Israeli civilians and the Russian aggression against Ukraine that began last year.
Amid fears that the war between Israel and Hamas will divert the world's attention from their suffering, as VOA correspondent Myroslava Gongadze reports, Ukrainian Jewish community leaders and politicians hope the US will continue to support both Israel and Ukraine. .
In one of the oldest synagogues in the center of Kiev, representatives of different religious faiths gather to eat dinner together. At the table they discuss the challenges of the war.
Having been on the front lines of the war since the beginning of the Russian aggression, they see many parallels between their struggle and the recent attack on Israel by Hamas militants. Rabbi David Milman explains to his colleagues the origins of the Israel-Hamas conflict. He says he was shocked by the attack.
"At first, I was terrified. My children and grandchildren are there. I could not understand how this was possible. We expected something like this from Hezbollah, Iran - but not Hamas. Compared to Hezbollah and Iran, they are mere pickpockets. The intelligence services did not pay enough attention," says David Milman, a rabbi in the Ukrainian army.
Rabbi Milman estimates that the Russian attack on Ukraine and the Hamas attack on Israel followed the same scenario. He says Hamas could not have carried out the attack without outside help. He suspects Russia, although, he says, there is no evidence.
Rabbi Milman shows where President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the Israeli ambassador sit in the front row when they come to the synagogue. Rabin has two homelands, Ukraine and Israel, and he thinks both countries need support to fight aggression.
Ihor Semyvolos, executive director at the Ukrainian Middle East Studies Association, says both wars involve enemies of democracy.
"At the strategic level, there is no doubt that Russia and Iran are involved, and since Iran and Russia are our enemies, it cannot but affect our conflict. According to President Biden, this is part of the world confrontation between democracies and autocracies, and we feel its effect in Ukraine," says Mr. Semyvolos.
Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze, the head of the Parliamentary Commission for the Integration of Ukraine in the EU, says that "many Ukrainians see the attack on Israel as part of the same war that Ukraine is waging". She supports President Biden's approach to combine an aid package for Ukraine and Israel.
"As far as I understand, considering the developments in American domestic politics right now, this is a very smart approach to explain to the American public what the American people should do, in support of Israel and Ukraine," says Ms. Klympush - Tsintsadze.
Ukraine is of great importance to many Jews. Past Israeli leaders Golda Meir and Ariel Sharon had roots in Ukraine, and Rabbi Milman says many Jewish religious figures are buried in Ukraine. He says that he prays every day that both countries will be supported in their struggle for survival./ VOA
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