Israel and Ukraine seem to have excellent diplomatic relations. Ukraine is one of the countries most visited by Israelis, who go on heritage tours and visit the tombs of saints there, like the burial place of the founder of Bratslav Hasidim, Rabbi Nahman, in the city of Uman. But since February, Israel and Ukraine have been waging a vengeful and ruthless war on the backs of tourists from both countries, who are intentionally detained at border crossings, harassed for hours and sometimes even deported back to their countries. The peak of the crisis occurred March 7, when top municipal officials from Kiev were detained at Ben Gurion Airport.

Like in any diplomatic battle, there is a gap between the official reasons and the real reasons of a crisis. Officially, Ukraine explains that it is on the eve of an election and is trying to prevent foreign agents — especially from Russia — from entering its territory at this sensitive time. Since there are more than a million Russian speakers in Israel, Israelis with Russian backgrounds are considered a risk for Kiev. But the real reason has to do with a battle between the two states regarding illegal migration to Israel and asylum requests from Ukrainian citizens, and Ukrainian claims of unfair treatment of their citizens at the Israeli border.

In recent years, Israel has dealt with a wave of migrant workers from Ukraine who settled illegally. The phenomenon started in 2010, when under pressure from Yisrael Beitenu Chairman Avigdor Liberman the government canceled the requirement for entry visas for Ukrainian citizens. After the civil war broke out in Ukraine in 2014 many Ukrainians started submitting asylum requests. According to statistics of the Israeli Immigration and Population Authority, 6,680 Ukrainian citizens submitted asylum requests in 2016. In the same year, 5,700 Ukrainian citizens were suspected of being migrant workers and deported back to their country. In 2017, 7,700 asylum requests were submitted by Ukrainian citizens and 8,453 Ukrainians who arrived at Ben Gurion Airport were returned home. Last year, 1,765 asylum applications were submitted by Ukrainian citizens, and 7,730 Ukrainian citizens were returned to their country.

According to estimates by the authorities, about 15,000 migrant workers from Ukraine currently reside in Israel illegally. Many submitted applications for refugee status, which enables them to work in Israel. “Not one of the thousands who submitted applications for refugee status is truly a refugee,” Attorney Alex Cohen, who has family in Ukraine, told Al-Monitor. "In Ukraine there are regions that are very far from any battles and there is no mortal danger, and one can move there. All of this is an excuse to get residency status in Israel.”