IFCJ President Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

JNS.org – A delegation from the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (IFCJ) landed in Ukraine on Dec. 17 to provide aid to poverty-stricken Jews. IFCJ has allocated a special budget of $5.1 million to provide food, clothing, and heating for Ukrainian Jews in need.

“When the Ukrainian revolution began, many people lost their jobs,” said IFCJ President Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein said, according to Israel Hayom. “The government stopped old-age stipends or cut them back, and the Jewish institutions have been forced to use most of their budgets for security following anti-Semitic incidents and incitement.”

IFCJ has also helped move refugees from the conflict zone in eastern Ukraine to camps in the western part of the country. Alexander Klass, a Jewish man in his 20s who came to the capital of Kiev from one of the combat areas, said that “my life and my family’s weren’t easy when there was peace, and now, in a time of war, life has become insufferable.”

“I really love my parents and always tried to help them as much as I could,” he said. “I have a serious illness, so I couldn’t immigrate to Israel with my parents before this. Now, the insufferable conditions in Ukraine are making me think about moving to Israel.”