40 "former" Israel Defence Force veterans fought in Majdan to bring democracy to Ukraine

The ex-Israeli soldier who led a Kiev fighting unit 'Delta' has headed 'the Blue Helmets of Maidan' of 40 men and women - including several IDF veterans - in violent clashes with government forces.

He calls his troops “the Blue Helmets of Maidan,” but brown is the color of the headgear worn by Delta — the nom de guerre of the commander of a Jewish-led militia force that participated in the Ukrainian revolution. Under his helmet, he also wears a kippah.

Delta, a Ukraine-born former soldier in the Israel Defense Forces, spoke to JTA Thursday on condition of anonymity. He explained how he came to use combat skills he acquired in the Shu’alei Shimshon reconnaissance battalion of the Givati infantry brigade to rise through the ranks of Kiev’s street fighters. He has headed a force of 40 men and women — including several fellow IDF veterans — inviolent clashes with government forces.

Source:  Haaretz

Jews ask new Ukraine government to reassure Jewish community

Dmitro Yarosh, leader of Right Sector, met with Israel's ambassador to Ukraine, Reuven Din El, and told him that their movement rejects anti-Semitism and xenophobia and will not tolerate it. He said their goals were a democratic Ukraine, transparent government, ending corruption, and equal opportunity for all ethnic groups.

The day before, Ukrainian Jewish journalist Eleonora Groisman interviewed Sergei Mischenko, the leader of "Spilna Sprava," and told him that Ukraine's Jews were worried about the nationalists. Mischenko responded that Jews will not have any problems and shouldn't worry. He went on to say, 

"On the Maidan there were Jews with us who served in the Israeli Defense Forces. We got along excellently and fought shoulder to shoulder."

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/abraham-h-foxman/in-ukraine-new-government_b_4875833.html

Will Ukraine's Revolution Be Good for Its Jews?

The most ardent Jewish supporter of Maidan has been Joseph Zissels, chairman of the Va’ad—Association of Jewish Organizations and Communities in Ukraine. Since his days as a young dissident in the 1960s, Zissels has worked to bring together the Ukrainian and Jewish movements. He spent six years in the Soviet Gulag, and went on to found the Va’ad in 1989. Zissels argues that Jews and Ukrainians need to turn a new page in their relations, and overcome old grudges, suspicions, and stereotypes. Maidan represents integration with Europe, he says. That is good for Ukraine, and is especially good for its Jews.

On the night of February 20, after the bloodiest day in modern Ukrainian history, with more than 70 people dead in the streets of Kiev and society on the verge of civil war, the country’s most respected TV political talk show, “Freedom of Speech,” featured an interview with Zissels.

Read more: http://forward.com/articles/193410/will-ukraines-revolution-be-good-for-its-jews/?p=all#ixzz2xHCminId