A 49-year-old Breslov Hassid from Betar Illit, a father of six, was arrested at the Ukraine-Romania border crossing while returning to Israel after spending Rosh Hashanah in Uman, and was drafted into the Ukrainian army.
Jonathan Karlinsky Mashak from Jerusalem, a 49-year-old married ba’al teshuva who studies at a yeshiva, was born in Ukraine and immigrated to Israel about 14 years ago.
He was traveling on a bus operated by the “Derech Tzadikim” company and was carrying an Israeli passport stating that he was born in the Soviet Union. However, according to a friend who was traveling with him on the bus, border officials identified him as also being a Ukrainian citizen after hearing him speak Ukrainian.
They decided to check his details, removed him from the bus, and he has not been seen or heard from since. He managed to send an email reporting what had happened and tried calling his wife twice, but when she called back, she only reached a voicemail message in Ukrainian.
Israeli transferred to Odessa for enlistment
Natan, a friend from Jerusalem, said that contact with Mashak was lost afterward and that he was informed that Mashak had been transferred to Odessa for enlistment in the Ukrainian military.
“He has traveled to Uman for years, even after the war began, and he was never stopped. He probably thought that because he had Israeli citizenship, he would no longer have any problem in Ukraine.”
His wife, Odel, told Walla that she was “very distressed,” mainly because she was unable to answer the two calls he made shortly after his arrest and only later realized that something unusual had happened.
“I never imagined they had caught him. He traveled as he does every year and never thought for a moment that this could happen.”
According to the information she has, her husband Jonathan is being held at a military base near Odessa as part of the enlistment process.
“As long as he is fit, from their perspective he is fit. Until the age of 60 they do not release people from the army. Right now, everything is up in the air. We still do not know exactly what will happen or how we can help him.
“This is not easy for me at all, it is very difficult. But with God’s help, I hope that God’s salvation will come and everything will end,” she said, expressing hope. She and his friends noted that he would not be able to maintain his Jewish religious observance in the army. “As far as kosher food is concerned, there is nothing to even talk about.”
Missing Israeli's wife calls for aid recovering husband
Odel is in contact with the Foreign Ministry but is requesting urgent assistance.
“I believe that the consulate and the embassy will try to do everything to bring him back, but they gently explained to me that anything related to Ukrainian law is in their hands. They told me that what happened was legal, and that is the problem.”
She emphasized the human aspect of the case.
“He has lived in Israel for more than 14 years, he is Jewish, an Israeli citizen, he has a home here and a life here. He is not just a number. Everything must be done to bring him home.”
The Foreign Ministry has not yet responded to the matter.