"Real abuse": A young mother who escaped from Ukraine and her four-year-old son, who arrived in Israel on Wednesday evening and were supposed to reach their grandmother, an Israeli citizen, were detained upon entering Israel and are being held at the airport until their planned deportation on Saturday evening. This is due to the suspicion that the mother came here to work , even though they have all the required documents and a personal invitation on behalf of the family members living in Israel.
The Population and Immigration Authority claimed that the mother "admitted that she gave false information and that she intended to check residence in Israel", and because of this "in light of the totality of the information that emerged during the questioning, it was decided to refuse her and her son's entry to Israel".
The "Israeli Friends of Ukraine" association, which mobilized to help the mother and her son, said that this is a phenomenon: "The arrests at the airport and the deportation of Ukrainian citizens who come to visit their relatives and friends continue. Unfortunately, people who face such problems do not always know who to contact and who to turn to, so stories Such in the end are simply silenced."
"Thus, last night a young mother arrived from Zaporizhia (by way of Krakow) with a four-year-old child. For obvious reasons, her husband could not leave Ukraine, so the two flew to their grandmother, a citizen of Israel. They had all the required documents and a personal invitation on behalf of the family members. The woman and her son were detained (their flight landed at 20:25) for a document check and investigation, and on Thursday at noon they were told that they would be deported, as there is a suspicion that she came here to work."
The association further claimed that "she and the child were denied access to food and water. They were fed sandwiches, which caused the child to vomit, and only after 20 hours of delay in the compound for people waiting to be questioned, was she allowed to enter the duty free area. The woman was asked to buy return tickets herself, she refused As a result, they were detained until Saturday night."
"The math is simple: a mother and a 4-year-old boy will spend 72 hours in Israel without the possibility of sleeping and eating like human beings, and then they will be deported, because according to the border guard, her explanations for why she even came to Israel were not convincing enough, and they recognized in her words the desire to stay and live Here".
"Israel's immigration policy has turned it into a country that violates everyone's basic right to a fair trial," says Anna Zharov , founder of the "Israeli Friends of Ukraine" association. And member of Knesset on behalf of "Yesh Atid" Vladimir Blayak".
"When about ten organizations, public figures, volunteers and journalists try to help one mother and her child avoid the injustice of the system – it only means one thing: that something is not working properly in our country. Public organizations are ready to help the grandmother collect and pay the necessary bond for the mother and child. But on guard The border refuses to talk to them."
"It's Pandora's box," she added. "After the story was published on social networks, more than a hundred comments describe personal stories of friends, relatives and personally being at border control in Israel, and this is not only unflattering to us, it sounds and looks like real abuse and it is the official face of the State of Israel ".
"Moshe Arbel has now become the Minister of the Interior, and there have also been changes in the Population and Immigration Authority: instead of Tomer Moskovich, who is known for his anti-Ukrainian statements, the new head of the Authority is Eyal Siso, who will hopefully consider changing the rules of interrogation and detention of people who come to Israel to rest a bit from the war" , she noted.
The Population and Immigration Authority said in response: "From the examination of the case, it appears that this is a citizen of Ukraine who arrived in Israel on the day and landed in the Netherland with her minor son. During the questioning conducted for her at the border control, the passenger initially claimed that she came to Israel for a family visit. However, in response to questions later, She admitted that she had given false information and that she intended to test residence in Israel. In light of the above, and in light of the entirety of the information that emerged during the questioning, it was decided to refuse her and her son's entry to Israel."
© 2026 News In Israel - Israeli News In English. All Rights Reserved.