Foreign Minister Yair Lapid has repeatedly called for Israelis to leave Ukraine over the last few days. "I continue to call on Israelis in Ukraine: Do not take unnecessary risks, come home. Better to be safe than sorry. If a war breaks out, it will be much harder to board flights; it will be much harder to leave Ukraine and return to Israel. In the next day or two, it would be still relatively simple. Israeli airlines are increasing flights. Anyone who wants to return to Israel can. The Foreign Ministry will increase its manpower in Kyiv. If necessary, we will open another office in Lvov. We will make sure that every Israeli and every Jew who wants to come home receives all the help they need," he tweeted.

Israel is preparing for the eventuality of Ukrainian Jews asking to be evacuated as well. In an interview this morning with the Times of Israel, Lapid said, “If the Jews in Ukraine are going to feel they’re in jeopardy and they need to be rescued or helped out, Israel will be there for them, as it was for Ethiopian Jews during the civil war or the waves of hunger there, and so on.”

Lapid said, “In the last 24 hours, I had a Zoom meeting with the embassy in Kyiv, with all the people there. And we had a round table via phone with the prime minister and the defense minister and everyone who’s involved with the Israeli Embassy. And we were discussing what to do regarding the Jews in almost the same way as we were discussing what to do regarding the Israelis.”

Lapid's words join a series of statements by Israeli officials in recent days calling for Israelis to leave Ukraine. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett called Feb. 12 on all Israeli citizens in Ukraine to leave the country immediately. A statement issued by his office said, “It was agreed to raise the travel warning for the area, along with calling on Israeli citizens to immediately leave.”