Ukrainian opposition leader Viktor Yuschenko appeared at Kiev’s Central Synagogue on Thursday night to light Chanukah candles. Some 400 Jews packed the shul, known here as the Brodsky Synagogue, to welcome Yuschenko, who lost the Nov. 21 runoff to establishment candidate Viktor Yanukovich in an election whose results were later invalidated by Ukraine’s Supreme Court. Yuschenko is considered likely to win in a re-vote scheduled for Dec. 26. During his synagogue visit, Yuschenko sported a kipah, which Jewish leaders said no top Ukrainian political leader had ever done before. In an interview with JTA last Thursday night, he said if he wins the election he will make relations with Israel his special priority. “Under my presidency, the relations between Ukraine and the State of Israel will take a turn for the better,” Yuschenko said.
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