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March 6 (UPI) -- Hundreds of Ukrainians fleeing Russia's invasion of the country arrived in Israel on Sunday in the first organized flights carrying refugees arrived. A total of 400 people arrived in Israel on three flights -- one from Ukraine, one from Poland and a third from Romania -- as Israel begins to take in refugees for the first time following the Feb. 24 invasion.
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Among those on the flight from Romania that arrived Sunday were 100 children who were removed from custody of their parents or abandoned and lived in a foster care home.
Israel's Immigration and Absorption Ministry announced that new immigrants from Ukraine will be granted a special status that allows them to receive a one-time payment of about $1,800 per immigrant, $3,359 for a couple and $4,580 for a family.
These payments come in addition to the benefits the ministry provides to any immigrant over their first six months in the country which total at $5,800 for an individual and $10,955 for a family.
Ukrainian refugees who do not have any immediate relatives already in Israel will be required to pay a deposit of about $3,046 upon arrival.
Minister of Diaspora Affairs Nachman Shai sent a letter to Prime Minister Naftali Bennett urging him to immediately suspend the deposit requirement.
"Such a demand at this moment is inhuman and immoral," Shai wrote. "It automatically restricts the entry of refugees to Israel who do not have relatives and do not have the means to meet this demand. I request that you immediately give instructions to cancel the requirement for these deposits for Ukrainian citizens arriving in Israel."
There are about 43,000 people who identify as Jews in Ukraine and about 200,000 people in the country eligible to immigrate to Israel under its Law of Return for Jews and their relatives.
More than 3,100 people immigrated to Israel from Ukraine in 2021 and Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked said last week that Israel should brace to accept "tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of immigrants," from Ukraine, Russia and other former Soviet countries.
During a cabinet meeting Sunday, Shaked said that more than 90% of the 2,034 Ukrainian nationals that have come to Israel since the war began are not Jewish and that the surge of refugees "cannot go on."
"We will reach 15,000 Ukrainians in a month," she said. "The State of Israel needs to do more in order to bring Jews and those eligible for the Law of Return. We can't keep going at this rate, things need to be planned."
Bennett on Sunday said the government was constructing scenarios based on accepting different amounts of refugees and would be presented to the cabinet later this week.
"This is a great challenge for Israel but it is a challenge we have faced before, time and again," he said.
