Health and social insurance benefits for Ukrainian refugees will stay in force in Israel at least until the end of the year, according to a decision taken by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which was reported by the Israeli government on Aug. 18.

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba held talks with his Israeli counterpart Eli Cohen just before the decision to extend the benefits was made.

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Cohen assured Kuleba that Ukrainians will continue to enjoy all the benefits of Israeli medical care, as reported by the Times of Israel.

There had been speculation that Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council (RNBO) might terminate a visa-free agreement for Israelis if the benefits were not extended, a well-informed anonymous source told NV on Aug. 11.

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The RNBO was also reportedly seeking the exclusion of Israel’s representative from defense ministers’ Ramstein meetings

Among the reasons cited were the unfriendly treatment of Ukrainians visiting Israel and the termination of the medical insurance program for Ukrainian refugees in the country.

Furthermore, Tel Aviv has yet to provide military support to Ukraine. The RNBO also suspected that sensitive information from a Ramstein meeting might have been handed over to a third party, ie, Russia.

Earlier, Ukrainian Ambassador to Israel Yevhen Korniichuk called on the Israeli government to consider prolonging benefits for Ukrainians.

He also strongly denied rumors about the termination of the visa-free deal for visitors from Israel, but confirmed there were some tensions and problems that needed to be resolved.

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