Ukrainian Jewish children on their way to the Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca to be taken to Israel. Photo: Twitter

Around a hundred Jewish orphans successfully escaped the fighting in Ukraine on Tuesday, as part of a complex rescue operation that will ultimately see them relocated to Israel.

Several Israeli diplomats and officials were involved in the effort, with Jerusalem’s consul in Romania, Roni Shabtai, leading the way, Israeli news site Walla reported.

“When it was all over, I asked the security guards to move aside, I went between two buses, and I burst into tears,” Shabtai recounted. “I’m 57 years old and worked for 30 years in service of the state. I’ve had emotional moments in my career, but never anything like this.”

The operation required complex advance planning, since many of the children, who began their journey in the Ukrainian city of Zhytomyr, did not have proper travel papers. They faced serious logistical problems exiting the country, with thousands of people streaming to land borders. The children ultimately had to walk long distances on foot in difficult weather conditions, including in temperatures below 20 degrees Fahrenheit, and were stranded in the border area for six days before being successfully extracted.

“We went out to greet them from the Romanian side and the emotions were high to see the faces of the children,” said Shabtai. “I tell you this not just as the consul but as a human being, as a father. The oldest was maybe 12 years old, the youngest were two.”

The children were placed on buses after arriving at the border. They will be sent to the Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca and from there to Israel.

Shabtai described the operation as emotional for “every Jew,” adding that it brings up “feelings that come from deep inside, from other eras and other places.”

Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid hailed the operation on Twitter on Tuesday, saying, “There is no country like this in the world. Six days into the harsh war in Ukraine, and there are moments for which words are not enough.”

Foreign Ministry officials gave the children blankets, socks, hand warmers, and traveling gear, and will accompany them until their arrival in Israel.