A significant breakthrough was reached regarding flights to Uman for Rosh Hashanah via Moldova following extensive appeals by HaRav Shalom Arush and the Rav of the city of Uman, Rav Yaakov Jan, Israeli media reported on Thursday.

Since Russia launched a war with Ukraine in 2022, traveling to Uman has become very complex due to the halt of direct flights to Ukraine. In 2023, tens of thousands of chassidim flew to Moldova and crossed the border to Ukraine, an effort that required weeks of planning and meetings between Israeli and Moldovan authorities. But last year, chaos ensued when Moldova canceled all flights from Israel to Moldova three weeks before Rosh Hashanah.

Moldova claimed that they canceled the flights due to technical reasons, but it turned out that the problem was financial. In order to accommodate tens of thousands of extra travelers in 2023, Moldova, one of the poorest countries in Europe, had to hire dozens of extra workers. Moldovan authorities claimed that Israel’s promises in 2023 to assist with the costs never materialized. They also said that they were unable to provide security for tens of thousands of Israelis.

This year, Shas chairman Aryeh Deri and Transportation Minister Miri Regev appealed directly to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu for his help. Netanyahu held a phone conversation with Moldovan Prime Minister Dorin Recean, which led to an agreement allowing chassidim to travel to Uman via Moldova for Rosh Hashanah 2025.

Representatives from the offices of Rav Arush and Rav Jan held many meetings with the director of the Prime Minister’s Office in order to push the issue and bring about a solution.

In addition, Finance Minister Betzalel Smotrich pledged to assist in financing part of the costs demanded by the Moldovan government in order to ensure the smooth implementation of the agreement.

Also, Foreign Minister Gideon Saar recently traveled to Moldova to promote the issue and discuss it with local government officials. His visit was seen as an important step in creating the ground for an understanding between the countries.

Brelover askanim noted that Deri did everything he could to assist in the issue and was a central figure in the effort to reach a solution with the Moldovan authorities. Transportation Minister Regev also devoted extensive time and resources to the issue until an agreement was reached.

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)