Israel prepares for wave of immigrants from Ukraine

(JTA) — Around 300 Ukrainian Jewish refugees landed in Israel Sunday, among them some 90 orphans between the ages of two and 12, in the first round of what Israeli government officials are expecting to be a wave of thousands in the coming months.

They were flown on three planes from Moldova, Romania and Poland.

But whether Israel will accept Ukrainian refugees who are not Jewish, and therefore ineligible for Israeli citizenship under the country’s Law of Return, is unclear.

The Law of Return allows any Jew who wishes to live in Israel to obtain Israeli citizenship. But Israel has not historica...