A delegation of lawmakers and Jewish activists from Ukraine will visit Israel this week.
The group, which also will include Ukrainian children, want to show solidarity with the Jewish state as well as strengthen political, economic and cultural ties with Israel.
The delegation includes 120 members of the Ukrainian parliament, leaders of the Ukrainian Jewish Committee, journalists and participants in the children’s diplomacy program of the Aleksandr Feldman Charitable Foundation.
Feldman, the leader of the Ukrainian parliament group on interparliament cooperation with Israel and the head of the Ukrainian Jewish Committee, initiated the project.
Delegates are scheduled to meet with Israeli President Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Knesset lawmakers, and representatives of organizations of Israelis who were former citizens of Ukraine.
Ukrainian lawmakers expect to discuss the ratification of a resolution on state payment of pensions to emigres from Ukraine, creating a visa-free protocol between Ukraine and Israel, promoting mutual tolerance in interethnic relations, recognition of Holodomor as a genocide against the Ukrainian people, and counteracting the rising xenophobia and anti-Semitism in Ukraine.
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