The US Army has begun a large-scale technological reform after Ukrainian combat experience revealed a weak spot in Western armies: even the most expensive weapons lose some effectiveness if drones, sensors, air defense systems, and command platforms cannot quickly exchange data.
The reason for the new American program was the success of the Ukrainian battle management system ‘Delta’. It was this system that helped Ukraine integrate drones, sensors, strike means, and command decisions into a single digital environment amid full-scale Russian aggression.
Now this experience is being studied not as a ‘Ukrainian improvisation’, but as a model of future warfare. For the US, it’s a matter of speed, battlefield survival, and the ability to respond to threats that are particularly well understood in Israel: drones, missiles, Iranian technologies, rear attacks, and the need to make decisions in minutes, not hours.
Why Ukrainian experience became a signal for the US
According to the Financial Times, the US Army launched the Project Jailbreak initiative to overcome an old problem: different weapon and management systems were often created as closed products, poorly compatible with each other.
In practice, this meant that a soldier or operator became a living ‘integration point’. They had to manually transfer data, switch between screens, link information from different sources, and make decisions under conditions of fatigue, cold, stress, and constant threat.
US Army Chief Technology Officer Alex Miller described this problem very simply: the existing approach does not work if a serviceman is wet, hungry, tired, and has been on task for 20 hours.
From separate systems to a unified battlefield
Before the reform, American developments often resembled a set of strong but poorly connected tools. A drone sees one thing, a radar detects another, an air defense system lives in its own logic, and the command post receives fragments of the picture with a delay.
Captain Mika Moul compared the previous situation to trying to conduct an orchestra via Microsoft Teams, where each musician has different notes. This phrase well explains the main challenge of modern warfare: the problem is not only in the availability of weapons, but in how quickly it turns into a unified combat network.
Ukraine, faced with the massive use of Russian missiles, Shahed, reconnaissance and strike drones, was forced to accelerate such integration not in the laboratory, but right on the front line.
Project Jailbreak: how the Pentagon is trying to ‘unlock’ its systems
A key moment for the American leadership was the visit of US Army Minister Dan Driscoll to Germany. There he saw how Ukrainian military use ‘Delta’ to integrate drones, sensors, and weapons into a working battle management system.
After this, according to Driscoll, it became clear: much of what he had seen before was not sufficiently integrated, not simple enough, and not convenient enough for servicemen.
Project Jailbreak gathered the largest defense companies and technological structures around one task. Participants included Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Anduril, Palantir, and other players in the American defense market.
Their goal was not abstract. It was necessary to make air defense systems, counter-drone means, drones, radars, cameras, command platforms, and weapons ‘speak the same language’.
For the Israeli audience, this story is important not only as news from the US. The Middle East has long lived in a reality where the speed of data transfer between a sensor and a weapon can determine the outcome of an attack. Therefore, Nikk.Agency — Israel News | Nikk.Agency considers Ukraine’s experience as part of a broader picture: drone warfare, the Iranian threat, sky defense, and digital battle management become a common theme for Ukraine, Israel, the US, and their partners.
What is already being deployed in the troops
The first results of Project Jailbreak have already begun to be delivered to American units, including forces in the Middle East. This is particularly indicative: a region where Israel regularly faces threats from Iran and its proxies becomes one of the directions where updated approaches can be tested the fastest.
The American army announced its intention to deploy a full package of fixes within the next 30 days. This is not about a cosmetic update of interfaces, but an attempt to change the very architecture of interaction between systems.
If earlier new weapons could be procured as separate ‘boxes’, now the priority is compatibility. Any new system must integrate into the overall digital network, not create another closed data island.
What this changes for Ukraine, Israel, and future wars
The Ukrainian ‘Delta’ became an example for the US of how an army under constant pressure can adapt faster than large bureaucratic structures. This does not negate the technological superiority of the American military-industrial complex, but shows: in modern warfare, the winner is not only the one with more expensive systems, but the one who quickly connects intelligence, analysis, and strike.
For Ukraine, this is an important political and military signal. Its experience is no longer just being studied — it is being used as a basis for restructuring approaches in one of the most powerful armies in the world.
For Israel, the conclusion is no less direct. The massive use of UAVs, the cheapening of strike systems, the growing role of Iran in spreading drone technologies, and the constant threat of multi-level attacks require not only strong air defense but also a flexible management network. Separate batteries, radars, and operators must work as a single organism.
The main lesson of the Ukrainian front
The war against Russia has shown that digital integration becomes as important a resource as ammunition, armored vehicles, or aviation. When data from a drone quickly reaches a commander, when a target is confirmed without unnecessary delays, when the system itself helps shorten the path from detection to decision, the army gains an advantage that cannot be measured only by the amount of equipment.
Project Jailbreak is an acknowledgment that old standards no longer withstand the pace of new warfare.
Ukraine paid a huge price for this experience. But it is its frontline solutions that are now changing the mindset of allies and forcing the world’s largest armies to restructure their systems to a reality where a drone, sensor, operator, and weapon must act not separately, but as a single network.
On the night of June 2, 2026, Russia launched a massive combined missile and drone strike on Ukraine. Kyiv, Kyiv region, Dnipro and Dnipropetrovsk region, Kharkiv and Kharkiv region, Zaporizhzhia, Sumy, Chernihiv region, Poltava region, Khmelnytsky region, Odesa region, Mykolaiv region, as well as energy and critical infrastructure facilities in several regions of the country were under attack.
According to updated data, the number of victims of the Russian army’s strikes on Ukrainian cities continues to grow: at the time of writing, it is known of at least 17 dead, over 100 people were injured. In Kyiv, the number of dead increased to 5 people. In Dnipro, a search and rescue operation continues at the site of a destroyed four-story apartment building.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reported that the fate of six people in Dnipro is still unknown. Part of the house, he said, was almost demolished. Nine people died, including a child.
While Kremlin officials try to manipulate the topic of ‘peace talks’ on the international stage, the actions of the Russian army demonstrate the real face of Russia — it is a deliberate and ruthless terror against the peaceful population of Ukraine.
Night of June 2: 729 air targets and a strike on civilian Ukraine
According to the Ukrainian Air Force, Russia used 729 air attack means: 73 missiles of various types and 656 drones. Among them were Iskander-M ballistic missiles, Kh-101 and Kalibr cruise missiles, Zircon anti-ship missiles, Shahed strike drones, Gerbera, Italmas, Banderol loitering munitions, and Parody decoy drones.
Ukrainian air defense destroyed or suppressed 642 air targets: 40 missiles and 602 drones. In particular, Iskander-M, Kh-101, Kalibr missiles, and hundreds of drones of various types were shot down.
But some missiles and drones reached their targets. Hits were recorded at dozens of locations, as well as debris falling on civilian objects.
The main meaning of this attack was obvious by the morning: Russia was again hitting not only military infrastructure. Residential buildings, hospitals, clinics, maternity wards, enterprises, energy facilities, cars, warehouses, educational buildings, administrative objects, gas stations, fire stations, and ordinary city neighborhoods were hit.
This is not a ‘targeting error’ or a side effect of war. This is a terrorist tactic of a state that tries to break people with fear, night explosions, destroyed homes, and a constant sense of danger.
Kyiv: five dead, children among the injured, damage in eight districts
The main strike hit Kyiv. Rescuers worked almost all night in all districts of the capital — at dozens of locations. The consequences of the attack were recorded in Podilskyi, Shevchenkivskyi, Obolonskyi, Sviatoshynskyi, Solomianskyi, Holosiivskyi, Pecherskyi, and Darnytskyi districts.
In Kyiv, 5 people died. More than 60 residents were injured. Among the victims were children aged 3, 11, and 17.
In the Podilskyi district, after a repeated missile strike on a residential high-rise, the building’s structures partially collapsed. According to preliminary information, people could remain under the rubble. Fires also broke out in the non-residential development area, and cars and warehouse premises were damaged.
In the Holosiivskyi district, the clinic was seriously damaged: the second and third floors of the building were destroyed. A business center was also damaged, cars caught fire, and new fire outbreaks appeared.
In the Shevchenkivskyi district, debris damaged a 24-story residential building, where a fire started on the fourth and fifth floors. Non-residential buildings also burned, and one of the nine-story buildings sustained facade and roof damage.
In the Solomianskyi district, debris hit the upper floors of a 15-story residential building. In addition, a high-rise caught fire at the level of the seventh-eighth floors, as well as several private houses.
In the Sviatoshynskyi district, fires broke out in a five-story residential building and in the non-residential development area. In the Obolonskyi district, debris fell near two kindergartens and caused a fire on the territory of an unfinished building. In the Darnytskyi district, after the fall of UAV debris, a gas station caught fire.
Municipal facilities, an academy, utility structures, a car dealership, and the territory of the Ministry of Internal Affairs service center 8041 were also affected. People with appointments had to receive services at other service centers in Kyiv.
Kyiv region: houses, warehouses, terminal, cars, and fires
The Kyiv region was also under attack. Due to hits and debris falls, fires broke out in the residential sector and on civilian infrastructure facilities.
In the Bucha district, rescuers extinguished a fire in a townhouse with an area of about 100 square meters. Cars were damaged on the territory of a logistics facility.
In Sofiivska Borshchahivka, a two-story warehouse building caught fire. The fire covered an area of about 500 square meters, but the fire was extinguished. Debris also damaged private residential houses.
In Kryukivshchyna, a fire broke out in a three-story building that was not in use. In the Fastiv district, private residential houses burned after the attack. In the Vyshhorod district, the fall of drone debris caused grass to catch fire in an open area.
In Kyiv region, damage to a postal terminal and cars was also reported. This shows that the Russian strike covered not only the capital but also the civilian infrastructure around it.
Dnipro, Dnipropetrovsk region, Kharkiv, and Zaporizhzhia: destroyed houses, a dead child, and strikes on enterprises
In Dnipro, the Russian attack led to the partial destruction of apartment buildings. An enterprise, a fire station, garages were damaged, and cars were destroyed.
According to Ukrainian authorities, nine people died in the city, including a child. Dozens more residents were injured. Zelensky separately reported that the fate of six people remains unknown, and the search and rescue operation will continue as long as necessary.
At the site of the destroyed four-story apartment building, rescuers continue to clear the rubble. Part of the building was effectively demolished by the strike.
Among the dead was a State Emergency Service rescuer, Major Anton Yarmolenko, deputy head of the fire and rescue unit. He was on his way to a call at the moment of the Russian strike.
This detail is especially important. Russia kills not only residents but also those who are supposed to save people after shelling.
Dnipropetrovsk region: Kamianske, Nikopol region, Synelnykove region, and Kryvyi Rih
In Kamianske, an administrative building and apartment buildings were damaged. Three people were injured, including a rescuer. The injured were hospitalized, and their condition was assessed as moderate.
In the Nikopol region, the district center, as well as the Chervonohryhorivska, Pokrovska, and Marhanetska communities were under attack. Private and apartment buildings were damaged.
In the Synelnykove region, Russian troops attacked the Vasylkivska community. As a result of the strike, a non-operational building caught fire.
In Kryvyi Rih, the strike hit the Apostolivska community, where a fire broke out. This shows that Russian terror is not limited to regional centers: smaller towns, communities, and residential areas remain under attack.
Kharkiv and Kharkiv region: drones, missiles, energy, and residential neighborhoods
Kharkiv experienced a combined attack by drones and missiles. The city was hit by strike drones and missiles. Hits were recorded in the Osnovianskyi, Slobidskyi, Nemyshlianskyi, and Kyivskyi districts.
In the Osnovianskyi district, private residential houses, administrative buildings, the territory of a preschool institution, and civilian infrastructure facilities were damaged. In the Slobidskyi district, an apartment building, cars, and a street lighting network were affected.
In the Nemyshlianskyi district, the strike damaged an office building, where a fire broke out. In the Kyivskyi district, hits were recorded on the territory of industrial enterprises.
The Kharkiv region was also hit. People were injured, including a child. The Barvinkivska, Donetska, Merefianska, and Vysokhanivska communities were under attack. Residential houses, utility buildings, garages, cars, and other civilian objects burned.
Separately, Zelensky reported strikes on energy facilities in the Kharkiv region and critical infrastructure in Kharkiv. This is an important element of Russian tactics: hitting not only people directly but also the systems that support the city’s life.
Zaporizhzhia: dozens of strikes and damaged high-rises
Zaporizhzhia also underwent a massive attack at night using various types of weapons. Dozens of strikes were recorded, including on one of the city’s industrial facilities.
In the Shevchenkivskyi district, four apartment buildings were damaged. Windows were broken in the apartments, and balconies were damaged.
Specialized services worked on-site, inspecting the territory, documenting the consequences of the shelling, and helping temporarily cover broken windows with OSB boards.
For Zaporizhzhia, this is not a single episode but a continuation of life under constant threat: explosions, damaged houses, emergency work, night alarms, and anticipation of the next strike.
Sumy, Chernihiv region, Poltava region, Khmelnytsky region, Odesa, and Mykolaiv region: geography of Russian terror
Sumy experienced night strikes on the residential sector and infrastructure facilities. Drone hits were recorded on a private house and an apartment building in the Zarichnyi district.
An elderly woman had an acute stress reaction, and she received medical assistance. In the morning, Russian troops also shelled Sumy with artillery. Roofs, windows, and balcony structures of two high-rise buildings were damaged.
Two women and a man who were nearby at the time of the shelling were injured. All were hospitalized, and their condition was assessed as moderate.
NANews — Israel News | Nikk.Agency draws attention to this geography of strikes specifically for the Israeli audience: it is not about one point on the map but a systematic attack on the country’s civilian space. Israelis are well acquainted with the logic of missile pressure, where the enemy tries to hit not only infrastructure but also the sense of security in society.
Chernihiv region: injured teenager, houses, lyceum, and warehouses
In the Chernihiv region, a 15-year-old teenager was injured as a result of a Russian attack. Residential houses, a lyceum, and warehouse premises burned in the region.
In the Horodnia community, a Russian drone hit a residential house, causing a fire. In Chernihiv, a fire also broke out due to the fall of an enemy drone on a residential house.
In the Koriukivka and Novhorod-Siverskyi districts, after Russian strikes, lyceum premises and warehouse buildings caught fire. The fires were extinguished, but the picture again shows: not abstract objects are under attack, but places associated with people’s daily lives.
Poltava region: private enterprise, houses, and an injured person
The Poltava region experienced a combined strike. Drone and missile hits were recorded in the Lubny district.
Premises of a private enterprise were affected. At another location, a missile fell near private houses, damaging residential buildings and utility structures.
One person was injured. His condition was assessed as satisfactory, and he received the necessary medical assistance.
Khmelnytsky region: shot down drones, fire, and damaged enterprises
The Khmelnytsky region was also in the attack zone. A fire broke out at one of the facilities in the Khmelnytsky district.
Air defense forces shot down or suppressed nine drones in the region. As a result of the attack, premises on the territory of enterprises were damaged.
Units of the State Emergency Service were involved in eliminating the consequences of the shelling and extinguishing fires. Information about the dead or injured in the region was not received at the time of the reports.
Odesa region: strike on a hospital and maternity ward
In the Odesa region, Russian strikes hit a hospital and a maternity ward. At the time of the attack, mothers with newborns were there.
According to preliminary data, people were not injured. But the very fact of a strike on such infrastructure shows the level of moral decline of the Russian military machine.
A hospital and a maternity ward are not military targets. These are places where life should be saved, not where infants should be hidden from explosions.
Mykolaiv region: Shahed, critical infrastructure, and a damaged house
The Mykolaiv region was attacked by Shahed-type drones by Russia. Critical infrastructure was under attack.
As a result of air defense work and debris falls in the Mykolaiv district, windows and the roof of a private house were damaged. There were no casualties.
Even where casualties are avoided, the attack leaves behind destruction, stress, and another confirmation: the Russian army deliberately pressures civilian life.
Power outages and strikes on energy
Due to strikes on energy infrastructure, some consumers in Kyiv and several regions temporarily lost power. Outages were recorded in the capital, as well as in the Kyiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Sumy, Kharkiv, and Cherkasy regions.
In Kyiv, a production site and infrastructure facilities of one of the energy enterprises were damaged. Two energy sector workers were injured and hospitalized.
Energy workers worked in an enhanced mode to restore power supply as quickly as possible. Separately, strikes on oil and gas industry facilities were reported. Rescue and operational services worked on-site.
Why this is important for Israel and international security
For the Israeli audience, this attack does not look like distant news ‘somewhere in Europe.’ Israel knows well what air raids, missile strikes, night shelling, air defense work, overloaded hospitals, and the psychological fatigue of the civilian population are.
The difference in scale and geography does not negate the general logic: when a state deliberately hits cities, it tests not only military defense but also the resilience of society.
That is why Zelensky’s words after this night sounded not only as an appeal to Ukrainians. He stated that if Ukraine is not protected from ballistic and other missile strikes, such attacks will continue. According to him, Europe needs its own anti-ballistic defense, and US assistance in supplying missiles for Patriot systems remains critically important.
For Israel, this is understandable language. Without layered air defense, constant replenishment of interceptor missiles, modernization of detection systems, and international support, even a strong defense system quickly comes under pressure if the enemy launches hundreds of targets simultaneously.
The Ukrainian night of June 2 is not only a Ukrainian tragedy. It is a signal for the entire democratic world: missiles, drones, and strikes on cities become a tool of pressure on civilian societies if the aggressor does not receive a tough response.
Not negotiations, but coercion through terror
On the international stage, the Kremlin continues to talk about ‘peace negotiations,’ conditions, and diplomacy. But the night of June 2 showed the real content of this rhetoric.
Russia acts as a terrorist state. It uses missiles, drones, night strikes, and the destruction of civilian infrastructure as a tool of pressure on Ukraine and its partners.
This attack became yet another proof: Russia does not show readiness to end the war. It shows readiness to kill, destroy, and force Ukraine to concessions through terror against the peaceful population.
The main conclusion: Ukraine needs strong defense, not the illusion of peace
After such strikes, it is especially clear that Ukraine’s security cannot rely solely on statements, diplomatic formats, and calls for a ceasefire.
Missiles for Patriot are needed. Additional air defense systems are needed. Defense production, engineers, mathematicians, specialists in drones, electronic warfare, energy protection, and city restoration after strikes are needed.
Ukraine needs an army that can not only hold the front but also protect the sky over Kyiv, Dnipro, Kharkiv, Odesa, Sumy, Zaporizhzhia, Chernihiv, Poltava, Khmelnytskyi, Mykolaiv, and other cities.
And internal resilience is needed — civic cohesion, without which even the strongest defense cannot withstand a long war. Zelensky separately thanked Ukrainians for not ignoring air raid signals. This is a simple phrase, but behind it lies life: shelter, discipline, attention to warnings, and mutual assistance truly save people.
The night of June 2 was another reminder: Russia will not stop from requests. It stops only where it meets strength, defense, technological superiority, and societal unity.
The path to ending this war lies not through beautiful formulas about ‘peace at any cost,’ but through Ukraine’s ability to survive, protect cities, strengthen the army, and deprive the aggressor of the opportunity to strike people with impunity.
Reserve Major General Amir Eshel, former commander of the Israeli Air Force and former Director General of the Israeli Ministry of Defense, spoke on Monday, June 1, 2026, at the annual Jerusalem Post conference in New York. It was there that he described a war scenario that, according to him, Israel and the entire free world need to prepare for now.
His main thesis sounds harsh: the future war will not be limited to the front line, military bases, and air strikes. It will hit the depth of the country, cities, communications, transport, energy, and the daily lives of citizens.
Eshel spoke not as a theorist. He linked his assessments to Russia’s war against Ukraine, conflicts in the Middle East, and Israel’s experience in recent years. In his view, the world is entering a stage where the familiar question “who won?” becomes less and less obvious because wars are becoming longer, more expensive, and more destructive for the home front.
For the Israeli audience, this is not an abstract forecast. Israel already lives in the reality of missile threats, drones, air raids, cyberattacks, and dependence on early warning systems. But Eshel effectively warns: the next level could be much harder.
Five lessons from Ukraine and the Middle East
The first lesson he highlighted at the New York conference is the sharp increase in the role of missiles, cruise missiles, ballistic systems, and drones. If previously such a strike was primarily considered a tool of pressure on military targets, now fire is increasingly directed across the entire territory of the state.
The second lesson is that quantity itself becomes quality. Cheap drones, mass launches, and simple strike systems can overload even technologically advanced defenses. This is evident in Ukraine, where Russia has been combining missiles, “Shaheds,” and waves of combined attacks for months, forcing air defense to operate in a constant wear-and-tear mode.
The third conclusion concerns ground maneuver. According to Eshel, the wide saturation of the battlefield with strike means seriously limits the classic advancement of infantry and armored vehicles. Ukraine has shown how difficult it is to move forward when the space is monitored by drones, and any concentration of forces quickly becomes a target.
The fourth lesson is that air defense finds it increasingly difficult to withstand the scale of threats. Interception becomes expensive, and attacking means are often cheaper than defensive ones.
The fifth conclusion is that the absence of a quick resolution makes wars protracted. This is visible both on the Ukrainian front and in the Middle Eastern reality, where military force does not always lead to an immediate political result.
Thousands of targets in the sky and the new role of artificial intelligence
The most alarming part of Eshel’s speech on June 1, 2026, concerned the scale of future attacks. He said that society needs to get used to not only hundreds of missiles and drones but to thousands and even tens of thousands of targets that can come simultaneously from the air and from space.
For Israel, this means a fundamentally new challenge. Even a powerful multi-layered defense system — “Iron Dome,” “David’s Sling,” “Arrow,” and other elements — was built around certain threat scenarios. A massive new type of attack may attempt not to penetrate the defense pointwise but to overload it with numbers, speed, directions, and false targets.
Eshel also emphasized the role of artificial intelligence. In his assessment, the future war will not just be a war of people, headquarters, and commanders. It will be a clash of systems, where AI on one side will oppose AI on the other side, managing thousands of autonomous platforms, analyzing data, and making decisions faster than a human can comprehend the battle picture.
For readers in Israel, this conversation is important not only as military analytics. Nikk.Agency considers such statements in a broader context: the country’s security increasingly depends not only on the army but also on the resilience of civilian infrastructure, the readiness of municipalities, the reliability of communications, energy, and the ability of society to live under prolonged pressure.
The electromagnetic spectrum as a battlefield
Eshel placed a separate emphasis on the electromagnetic spectrum. According to him, the space in which Wi-Fi, cellular communication, GPS, digital control systems, cameras, sensors, and navigation operate has already become a full-fledged battlefield.
This is an important warning for Israel. In a modern country, almost everything is tied to digital infrastructure: hospitals, traffic lights, elevators, banking services, logistics, transport, alert systems, smartphones, and civilian applications. A strike on such systems does not necessarily look like an explosion, but the consequences can be no less painful.
Eshel also described another layer of threats — the use of energy as a weapon. This refers to lasers, electromagnetic systems, and means capable of disabling electronic components. Not only military drones or missiles can be affected, but also civilian equipment: cars, computers, phones, cameras, electronically controlled doors, elevators, and urban systems.
What this means for Israel
Eshel’s main conclusion, voiced at the Jerusalem Post conference in New York, is that confidence in strength alone is no longer enough. He called for a change in approach: to invest not only in offensive capabilities but also in defense, infrastructure protection, and reducing damage to the civilian home front.
In Israeli security logic, this is a particularly sensitive issue. Israel traditionally bets on intelligence, air superiority, quick strikes, and technological advantage. But if the enemy can attack the home front for a long time and massively, then defense becomes not a secondary shield but a condition for any successful operation.
Eshel effectively says that without strong protection of civilian infrastructure, offensive potential also loses effectiveness. The army may have strong strike capabilities, but if the country is paralyzed at the rear, if communication does not work, if cities are not ready, if air defense systems are overloaded, strategic advantage narrows.
The Israeli home front as part of the front
For an ordinary Israeli, this forecast sounds unpleasant but realistic. The war of the future may come not only through a siren and a missile salvo. It may manifest in navigation failures, communication outages, transport disruptions, power grid damage, digital chaos, and pressure on civilian psychology.
That is why Eshel’s conversation is important not as panic but as a warning. Israel needs not only a strong army but also a more resilient country: protected hospitals, backup communication channels, prepared municipalities, clear instructions for the population, reliable energy, and the ability to withstand a long conflict without destroying everyday life.
The war of the future, which Amir Eshel spoke about on June 1, 2026, in New York at the Jerusalem Post conference, is already partially visible in Ukraine and the Middle East. The difference is only in scale. If thousands of cheap systems, artificial intelligence, missiles, drones, and electromagnetic strikes combine into one campaign, the front will not be somewhere far away. It will pass through the sky, phones, roads, homes, and infrastructure.
The death of 21-year-old Mikhail Tyukin, a repatriate from Ukraine and an IDF soldier, became not only a personal tragedy for one family in Israel and Ukraine. This event once again showed that terror emanating from Iran, its allies, and proxy structures has long not been limited to one border, one war, or one region.
On May 31, 2026, the Embassy of Ukraine in the State of Israel stated that the world must maintain unity in confronting the ‘Axis of Evil’. The occasion was the death of Mikhail Tyukin as a result of a drone explosion launched by Hezbollah. According to Israeli media and IDF reports, he served in the intelligence unit of the Givati Brigade and died in southern Lebanon during an FPV drone attack.
Who was Mikhail Tyukin and why his death became a symbol
Mikhail Tyukin moved to Israel from Ukraine in 2020 with his mother. The statement from the Ukrainian embassy specifically emphasizes that his mother was his only close family. He became a citizen of two countries that in recent years have been living under the blows of different forms of the same terror: Ukraine from Russian aggression and Iranian drones, Israel from Hezbollah, Hamas, and other structures associated with the Iranian axis.
For the Israeli audience, in this story, it is important not only that an IDF soldier died. It is important that it is about a repatriate from Ukraine who found himself between two wars but chose to serve in the country where he was building a new life. He came to Israel as a teenager, became part of Israeli society, and died in army uniform, defending the northern front.
This is not abstract geopolitics.
This is the fate of a person in which Ukraine, Israel, Iran, Lebanon, Hezbollah, and the Russian-Iranian military-political alliance converged.
Why the Ukrainian embassy speaks of the ‘Axis of Evil’
The statement from the Ukrainian Embassy in Israel directly states that Hezbollah is financed by Iran—the same Iran that is an ally of Russia and supplies it with weapons. It is this connection that makes the death of Mikhail Tyukin not only an Israeli tragedy but also part of a broader picture of the modern war against democratic states and their citizens.
Ukraine has been facing Iranian strike drones for several years, which Russia uses against Ukrainian cities, energy, ports, and civilian infrastructure. Israel, for its part, sees the Iranian trace in the arming and financing of Hezbollah, Hamas, and other groups acting against Israeli citizens and military.
That is why the formula of the Ukrainian embassy sounds harsh but logical: it is not about different conflicts, but about interconnected threats.
When NANews — Israel News | Nikk.Agency writes about such events for the Israeli audience, the key question is: can Israel continue to consider Russia’s war against Ukraine and Iran’s war through its proxies against Israel as separate processes? The death of Mikhail Tyukin shows that at the level of human destinies, these lines have already intersected.
The Iranian factor: a common source of threat
Iran plays the role of not only a regional adversary of Israel. It has become one of Russia’s important military partners in the war against Ukraine. Iranian drones, technologies, and political support enhance Moscow’s ability to continue attacks on Ukrainian territory.
For Israel, this means that the Ukrainian front and the northern front against Hezbollah are connected not by a slogan, but by the infrastructure of terror: weapons, technologies, money, training of militants, and political cover.
Hezbollah uses drones against Israeli military and civilian targets. Russia uses Iranian drones against Ukraine. The difference in geography does not cancel the common logic: the blow is struck at those who hinder the expansion of authoritarian and terrorist alliances.
What this death changes for Israel and Ukraine
The death of Mikhail Tyukin strengthens Kyiv’s moral and political argument in conversation with Israel. Ukraine has long said that the Iranian threat is not only an Israeli problem, and Russian aggression is not only a Ukrainian misfortune. Now this thought has received a tragic human dimension.
For Israel, the story of Mikhail Tyukin is also important because the country has a large community of people from Ukraine. Among them are those who came in the 1990s, those who repatriated after 2014, and those who found themselves in Israel after Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022. Many families simultaneously follow the news from the Ukrainian front and the situation in northern Israel.
The death of a young soldier from Ashkelon, a repatriate from Ukraine, connects these two pains into one.
Consequences for public diplomacy
The statement from the Ukrainian embassy strengthens Kyiv’s line: the world must not just sympathize with individual victims but understand the structure of the threat. If Iran arms Russia, supports Hezbollah, and develops a network of proxy forces, then countering this system cannot be fragmented.
For Israel, this is also a question of strategic honesty. The northern front, drone attacks, Hezbollah’s pressure, and Iranian influence in the region require not only a military response but also clearer international coordination. Ukraine, in this sense, acts not as an outside observer but as a country that daily faces the same technology of terror—only on a different section of the world map.
There is also an informational consequence. The story of Mikhail Tyukin destroys the convenient attempt to separate ‘Israeli security’ from the ‘Ukrainian war’. In reality, the same Iranian factor is present in both directions, and Russia and Iran are increasingly linking their military and political interests.
Why it is important to remember this now
Against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine, the escalation around Lebanon, and constant threats from northern Israel, such stories become a test for international solidarity. It is not enough to say words about fighting terrorism if in practical politics the world continues to divide victims by geography and convenience.
Mikhail Tyukin was a citizen of Israel and a native of Ukraine. He died from a Hezbollah strike, which is supported by Iran. The same Iran helps Russia wage war against Ukraine.
This is the main meaning of the Ukrainian embassy’s statement: the ‘Axis of Evil’ is not a metaphor for domestic politics, but a description of a network where one regime arms another, one conflict fuels another, and the price is ultimately measured in the lives of young people.
For Israel, the memory of Mikhail Tyukin is the memory of an IDF soldier. For Ukraine, it is about its native, whose life was cut short by terror associated with the same Iranian camp that helps Russia kill Ukrainians. For the whole world, it is a reminder that such threats cannot be faced alone.
On June 1, 2001, late in the evening, one of the most painful terrorist attacks of the Second Intifada occurred on the Tel Aviv promenade. At the entrance to the “Dolphin” disco, also known as the Dolphinarium, a suicide bomber blew himself up among teenagers and young people who were waiting for the party to start by the sea.
21 people were killed. More than 120 were injured. A significant portion of the dead and injured were Russian-speaking Israelis, children and youth from families of immigrants from the former USSR. For Israel, this was not just another terrorist attack of that time. It was an attack on youth, on the new aliyah, on families who came to the country with hopes for safety and a future.
What happened at the entrance to “Dolphin”
On the evening of June 1, a large queue gathered at the club on the Tel Aviv promenade. It was a popular place for teenagers, especially for Russian-speaking youth from Tel Aviv, Bat Yam, Holon, Ramat Gan, Netanya, and other central cities of Israel.
According to Israeli and international sources, the terrorist was Said Hotari, associated with Hamas. It is important to clarify: in various retellings, this attack is sometimes mistakenly attributed to the “Palestinian Islamic Jihad,” but official Israeli reports and materials from major publications link the attack specifically to Hamas.
The terrorist was wearing a belt with explosives. The charge was reinforced with metal elements — nails, balls, screws, and other damaging details. The goal was obvious: not just an explosion, but a maximum number of deaths and severe injuries among people standing close to each other.
A security guard noticed the suspicious behavior of a young man at the entrance. According to memories, when asked what he was doing there, he replied: “Dancing.” He was not allowed inside. Moments later, he blew himself up outside — right where a dense crowd of teenagers was standing.
Why the blow was so terrible
The attack occurred on a Friday evening, in a place of leisure, by the sea, in a city that for many symbolized freedom, music, and ordinary young life. That is why “Dolphin” became in Israeli memory not only the name of a club but also a symbol of the vulnerability of civilian space to terror.
Among the dead were schoolchildren, young soldiers, new immigrants, teenagers who came just to spend the evening. Among the 21 dead were 20 civilians and one serviceman, and most of the victims were young girls.
Russian-speaking Israel and the trauma of “Dolphin”
For the Russian-speaking community of Israel, this attack became a separate historical trauma. Many families came to Israel in the 1990s after the collapse of the USSR. They were building a new life, learning the language, working in hard jobs, adapting to a different culture, and believing that their children could grow up in a freer country.
That night, terror struck precisely at their children.
It is no coincidence that years later, the attack at the Dolphinarium is often remembered as a turning point for Russian-speaking Israelis. This attack became the moment when the Russian-speaking aliyah painfully entered the general Israeli experience of loss, war, and national memory.
This is an important context for today’s Israeli audience. When Nikk.Agency — Israel News | Nikk.Agency writes about memory, terrorism, and the price of security, the story of “Dolphin” shows: behind the statistics, there are always specific families, specific cities, and specific children whose names ceased to be just names on a list.
What changed after the attack
After the attack, Israel faced a new level of public shock. The Second Intifada was already underway, but the explosion at the Tel Aviv disco became one of those events that sharply intensified the feeling that terror could reach people anywhere: on a bus, in a cafe, on the street, at the entrance to a club.
The consequences were not only military and political. There was increased attention to the security of places with large crowds, to checks at entrances, to the work of private security and police in recreational areas. Israeli society became even more sensitive to the issue of the security of civilian objects.
For the families of the victims, the consequences lasted for years. Many of the injured underwent surgeries and rehabilitation. Some remained disabled. The parents of the deceased faced not only the loss of their children but also a long sense of injustice: their sons and daughters came or were born here to live, but were killed for the very fact of belonging to Israel.
Why the memory of “Dolphin” is important today
The terrorist attack on June 1, 2001, cannot be viewed only as an event of the past. For Israel, it is part of a long line of struggle against terror, where civilians became targets precisely because they lived ordinary lives.
For Russian-speaking Israelis, this memory has additional meaning. “Dolphin” reminds of a generation of teenagers who grew up between languages, cultures, and identities. They spoke Russian at home, learned Hebrew at school, listened to music, walked by the sea, and tried to become part of Israel without loud declarations.
The terrorist did not choose a military base or a government institution. He came to a disco. It was a blow to the very idea of normalcy: to the right of teenagers to dance, laugh, meet friends, and not think every minute about war.
The Israeli lesson of this tragedy
The memory of “Dolphin” remains important also because it shows the cost of underestimating terrorist ideology. When the murder of teenagers is presented as “resistance,” it destroys the very boundary between political conflict and the conscious mass murder of civilians.
Israel after that night became different. But the Russian-speaking community also became different: more visible, more integrated into the general Israeli grief, more connected to the country’s history not only through repatriation but also through pain.
June 1 is not just a date on the calendar. It is a day of remembrance for the young people who stood in line by the sea and did not return home. And as long as Israel continues to live under the threat of terror, the story of “Dolphin” remains a warning: security begins not with slogans, but with an honest understanding of what the country stands against.
The dream of returning to the Soviet Union in modern Russia is increasingly ceasing to be nostalgia and more often becoming a political program. But the problem is that it is not about the romanticized image of a ‘great power’ from television myths, but about recreating the darkest model of coercion, control, and suppression. For the Israeli audience, this process is especially important because it shows how a state waging an aggressive war against Ukraine is simultaneously restructuring its own society according to the logic of fear, isolation, and controlled disenfranchisement.
Today in Russia, the features of a system where dissent is declared a threat, freedom of speech becomes a crime, and citizens are offered to exchange personal autonomy for the television illusion of stability are becoming more pronounced. And if earlier talks about a ‘new USSR’ could sound like propagandistic bravado, now more signs point to a much harsher scenario — a return not to the late Soviet lifestyle, but to the model of conditional 1937 with modern digital stuffing.
This is no longer a metaphor.
This is a political construction being assembled before our eyes.
USSR 2.0 without a mask — why Russia is rapidly turning into a new type of labor camp
How Russia approaches the model of total submission
Not Soviet nostalgia, but a system of fear and forced loyalty
One of the main features of the current Russian course is the attempt to restore a state where a person exists primarily as a resource. Not as a citizen with rights, not as a participant in public life, but as a controlled unit obliged to work, remain silent, obey, and not ask unnecessary questions. In such a model, war is needed not only for external aggression but also for internal discipline. It justifies censorship, strengthens repression, allows for demands of sacrifice, and simultaneously accustoms society to the idea that the norm is not freedom, but mobilization obedience.
Against this backdrop, ideas that would have recently seemed like political grotesque are increasingly being voiced. Discussions of a six-day workweek, a twelve-hour workday, and the actual expansion of the workload to 72 hours a week fit into the general trend. If such proposals are promoted by people from the pro-government elite, it means that the very idea of turning the country into a huge production barracks is no longer marginal. It is being tested in the public field and gradually introduced into public consciousness as an acceptable future option.
For the authorities, this is convenient. An overworked, intimidated, and economically dependent person resists worse, protests less often, and more easily accepts any new restrictions.
From internet shutdowns to a new serfdom logic
Recent years have shown that the Kremlin closely monitors the limits of its own population’s patience. First, society is accustomed to censorship. Then — to blockages, internet filtering, criminal cases for words, and demonstrative punishments for dissent. After this, the next stage becomes possible: presenting labor coercion, total control, and restriction of personal choice as supposedly necessary measures for the sake of the state, the front, or ‘stability.’
That is why talks about digital isolation, the analogue of ‘CheburNet,’ and the gradual transformation of the country into a controlled information camp cannot be considered an exaggeration. When society agrees to live under conditions of shutdowns, bans, and an increasingly narrow field of the permissible, the authorities draw a logical conclusion: the limit of resistance is lowered. And that means they can go further.
It’s not just the economy being tested.
It’s a test of obedience.
Why the myth of ‘returning to the USSR’ turns into a trap for the Russians themselves
Television romance versus the real model of 1937
A significant part of Russian society has indeed lived for many years with the myth of ‘returning to greatness.’ In this picture, the USSR was presented as a space of strength, military power, large industry, strict discipline, and global fear that supposedly commanded respect from the world. But such a myth always had one fundamental substitution. People dreaming of a ‘great era’ almost never imagine themselves as its victims. They mentally place themselves on the side of the authorities, security forces, party nomenclature, special services, or the punitive system.
Reality is arranged differently. In any system built on coercion, the majority of the population finds itself not in the boss’s chair, but in the role of subordinate material. Not the master of the repressive mechanism, but its raw material. And if modern Russia is indeed moving towards a version of USSR 2.0, then for millions of its citizens, this will mean not a return to the ’empire of winners,’ but a slide into a world where rights are replaced by orders, salary — by a form of dependence, and personal freedom — by the obligation to survive in a state that considers a person an expendable resource.
This paradox is especially noticeable today. Those who have supported the cult of a strong hand, repression, and militarization for years risk being the first to face the same system not as spectators, but as objects of management.
War as a way to gather the country into one big labor camp
For the Israeli reader, another aspect is important here. Russian aggression against Ukraine does not exist separately from internal processes in Russia itself. External war and internal unfreedom feed each other. The deeper the country goes into a military economy, the easier it is for the authorities to explain to society new sacrifices, new restrictions, and new forms of forced labor. The more resources go to the front, the stronger the temptation to tighten the screws inside the country and present it as an inevitability.
That is why the rhetoric about the need to work more, endure longer, and not ask questions does not look like a random set of propaganda theses, but part of the overall architecture. A country living in a state of endless war gradually adjusts civilian life to the military standard. Hence the attempt to turn society into a huge mobilization mechanism, where the factory, barracks, propaganda, and fear begin to work as a single system.
In this context, НАновости — Новости Израиля | Nikk.Agency records not just another ideological shift in Russia, but a more dangerous process: a state destroying Ukrainian cities and lives is simultaneously building within itself a model where repression, overwork, and disenfranchisement are presented as the new norm of national existence.
What this means for Ukraine and the region
Russia is becoming less predictable and more totalitarian
For Ukraine, the conclusion from this picture is quite harsh but understandable. The deeper Russia goes into the model of internal coercion, the less reason there is to expect rational evolution, humanization, or renunciation of aggression from it in the foreseeable future. A country that shapes its own society according to the laws of a camp does not become safer for its neighbors. On the contrary, it more often seeks an external enemy, strengthens militarism, and turns violence into a universal language of internal and external politics.
For Israel, this is also an important signal. The history of the 20th century has too clearly shown how quickly the cult of strength, repression, and total submission can grow into a threat not only to its own population but also to the surrounding world. When unfreedom, labor coercion, suppression, and the cult of the enemy are normalized in a state, it always ceases to be only the internal affair of such a country.
That is why the current transformation of Russia is important not only for the Ukrainian front.
It is important for understanding what type of regime the world will have to deal with in the future.
If the current trajectory continues, Russia will look less and less like an ordinary authoritarian state and more like a closed system of the late imperial type, where the population is held by a mixture of fear, propaganda, war, and social dependence. And in such a case, the conversation is no longer about beautiful myths about ‘returning to the USSR,’ but about a real slide into a model where the state demands not participation from a person, but submission.
“This is my way of saying thank you to G-d that we have food and shelter,”– says Mordechai.
The story of Mordechai Kreuser is a shining example of human solidarity and selflessness. An Israeli citizen who came to Transcarpathia to revive the Jewish community became a savior for thousands of Ukrainian immigrants.
For the third year now, he has been providing them with free kosher meals, bringing light during the difficult times of war.
Mordechai Kreuser came to Mukachevo in 2022 with an ambitious goal: to open a kosher restaurant and breathe new life into the Jewish community. However, Russian aggression changed his plans.
When the war began, Mordechai used his funds to set up charity canteens in Mukachevo, Ivano-Frankivsk and Chernigov.
At the beginning of 2022, about 500 people came to the dining room in the Mukachevo synagogue four times a week, now – 250.
“This is my way of saying thank you to G-d that we have something to eat and a place to sleep. I came here for a different purpose and found myself among hundreds of thousands of people fleeing the war and becoming its victims. I feed the hungry and this is my way to help them.” – says Mordecai.
Help with numbers
At their peak, Kreuser’s canteens fed up to 500 people daily.
City
Number of people (2022)
Number of people (2024)
Mukachevo
500
250
Ivano-Frankivsk
~300
~150
Chernigov
~200
~100
Over time, the number of visitors has declined due to fewer migrants, but the need for hot meals remains high.
Why kosher food?
Kosher dishes are not only a tradition, but also a sign of respect for every person, regardless of their faith.
Features of Mordecai’s cuisine:
Suitable for people of all religions.
Meets strict kosher standards.
It is being prepared with the participation of volunteers, including displaced people.
Volunteer work
The Kreuzer canteen is staffed by four women who are themselves displaced people.
Stories that touch the heart
One of the visitors to the canteen was Nadezhda from Mariupol, who spent 40 days under occupation without food or water. As a result, she lost her sight and hearing.
“These people cook with warmth and kindness. Here I felt that I could live again,” — Nadezhda shares.
Problems and challenges
Today, charity canteens in Ivano-Frankivsk and Chernigov have closed due to lack of funds. However, Mordecai continues to seek support.
“I had a calling from my heart. I cannot remain indifferent, even if the funds are not enough.” – he says.
Kreuzer appeals to wealthy people with a request to open their hearts and support those who are in trouble.
The role of the initiative for relations between Israel and Ukraine
The Mordechai project is not only humanitarian aid, but also an important symbol of cooperation between the Jewish and Ukrainian peoples.
Our website NAnews – Israel Newscontinues to tell stories that unite Israel and Ukraine.
Conclusion
Mordechai Kreuser’s initiative demonstrates the power of the human spirit and the potential for uniting peoples. His story is an example of how you can overcome boundaries while supporting those who need it most.
“The war will pass, but the memory of good deeds will remain,” – Mordechai is sure.
Let’s support such initiatives together and make the world a better place.
The history of ties between the Jewish people and Ukraine is amazing and multifaceted.
The contribution of the natives of Ukrainian lands to the development of the Jewish state is reflected even in the symbols of Israel, such as the national currency – the shekel.
Portraits of 8 great personalities born on Ukrainian soil adorn Israeli banknotes, recalling their services in culture, politics and public life.. We invite you to get to know each of these heroes better.
So, Of the 20 outstanding representatives of the Jewish people who have been depicted on Israeli money over time, 8 were born on the territory of modern Ukraine.
1. Chaim Nachman Bialik (1873–1934)
Biography:
Born in the village of Ivnitsa, Volyn province (now Zhitomir region). Chaim Nachman Bialik was a prominent poet, translator and writer, called the “national poet of Israel.” His works contributed to the development of Jewish literature and culture. He was also active in the revival of Hebrew as a modern language. His poems have become a mandatory part of the school curriculum in Israel.
Banknote:
Bialik is depicted on the 10 shekel banknote issued in 1985. The banknote features lines from his poem and illustrations reflecting his literary heritage.
2. Vladimir (Zeev) Jabotinsky (1880–1940)
Biography:
Born in Odessa, Vladimir Jabotinsky was one of the founders of revisionist Zionism. He created the Jewish Legion within the British Army and inspired Jewish youth to fight for independence. In addition, Jabotinsky was a writer, journalist and translator.
Banknote:
Jabotinsky is depicted on the 1998 NIS 100 banknote. His portrait is complemented by symbols of the Zionist movement and lines from his literary works.
3. Lev (Leon) Pinsker (1821–1891)
Biography:
Born in Tomashpol (now Vinnytsia region). Lev Pinsker became one of the ideologists of the Hovevei Zion movement, which laid the foundations of modern Zionism. His work Auto-Emancipation was a manifesto calling on the Jewish people to fight for the creation of their own state.
Banknote:
Pinsker’s image adorns the 20 shekel bill from the 1980s. In the background are pages from his works and symbols of the Hovevei Zion movement.
4. Menachem Usishkin (1863–1941)
Biography:
Born in Dubrovno (now the territory of Belarus, formerly part of the Russian Empire). Usyshkin was the head of the Jewish National Fund and made a huge contribution to the purchase of land for the future of Israel.
Banknote:
Menachem Usishkin is depicted on the 500 shekel banknote from the 1980s. Next to his portrait is a plan of the lands acquired through his efforts and a quote from his speeches.
5. Moshe Sharett (1894–1965)
Biography:
Born in Kherson. Sharett was the second Prime Minister of Israel and one of the leaders of the Zionist movement. His diplomatic efforts played a key role in strengthening the young Jewish state.
Banknote:
Sharett is depicted on the 20 shekel bill from the 1970s. The banknote also depicts the attributes of diplomatic work: documents and a pen, symbolizing his contribution to Israel’s foreign relations.
6. Golda Meir (1898–1978)
Biography:
Born in Kyiv. Golda Meir became Israel’s first female prime minister. Her strong leadership during difficult periods, including the Yom Kippur War, brought her worldwide fame.
Banknote:
Golda Meir’s portrait can be seen on the 10 shekel banknote of 1973. In the background are images symbolizing her political activities, such as government meetings.
7. Yitzhak Ben-Zvi (1884–1963)
Biography:
Born in Poltava. Yitzhak Ben-Zvi became the second President of Israel. He is known as a historian and researcher of the Jewish Diaspora.
Banknote:
His portrait appears on the 100 shekel banknote of the 1980s. The banknote also features illustrations reflecting Ben-Zvi’s cultural explorations.
8. Eliezer Ben-Yehuda (1858–1922)
Biography:
Born in Luzhki (now Belarus, formerly part of the Russian Empire). Ben Yehuda was the founder of modern Hebrew and the author of the first Hebrew dictionary.
Banknote:
His image adorns the 50 shekel note from the 1970s. In the background are pages of a dictionary and fragments of Ben Yehuda’s manuscripts.
Conclusion
Eight great people born on the territory of Ukraine left an indelible mark on the history of Israel. Their images on banknotes are not only a sign of recognition, but also a reminder of how closely the destinies of the two peoples are connected. This unique fact indicates that the contribution of Ukrainian Jews to the development of Israel was and remains significant.
Read more on the website NAnews – Israel Newsto be aware of historical facts that unite our countries.
On October 17, 1880, Vladimir (Zeev) Jabotinsky, an outstanding Jewish public figure, writer, journalist, translator and founder of the Revisionist Zionist movement, was born in Odessa (Ukraine).
Jabotinsky fought for the creation of the state of Israel and favorably viewed the idea of free national and cultural development of any people within a sovereign state.
From an early age he stood out as a gifted student with an interest in languages, literature and social issues. Jabotinsky graduated from educational institutions in Italy and Switzerland, where he studied law and journalism, which later determined his professional career.
Jabotinsky became a famous publicist and writer, whose articles and works attracted the attention of the world community. From an early age, he was actively involved in the political life of the Jewish diaspora and soon became one of the main ideologists of Zionism, a movement that sought to create an independent Jewish state in Palestine.
Revisionist Zionism: Jabotinsky’s Political Struggle
In 1925, Jabotinsky founded the Revisionist Zionist movement, which became a key movement in Jewish political thought at the time. The main ideas of Jabotinsky’s revisionist Zionism included the following principles:
Creation of a Jewish majority on both banks of the Jordan River.
The establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine, built on the principles of justice and morality.
Complete restoration of the Jewish nation in the historical territory of Palestine.
Liquidation of the Jewish Diaspora and repatriation of all Jews wishing to return to their homeland.
Jabotinsky steadfastly defended the view that the national interests of the Jewish people stood above any other personal or group ambitions. He believed that “Palestine” should become the center of Jewish civilization and state.
“Jabotinsky was a man whose ideas fundamentally changed the course of Jewish history, and his legacy remains an integral part of the Israeli political system today.”
Jabotinsky and the Ukrainian national movement
One of the most important episodes of Jabotinsky’s life was his collaboration with Ukrainian nationalists and figures such as Pyotr Struve and Maxim Slavinsky. At the beginning of the 20th century, Jabotinsky actively interacted with representatives of the Ukrainian intelligentsia, supporting the ideas of national self-determination of Ukraine.
Jabotinsky believed that every people has the right to national self-determination, including Ukrainians. In response to Struve’s ideas about a “united Russian nation”, Jabotinsky strongly defended the Ukrainian national movement and published several articles supporting the right of Ukrainians to independence.
Quote from Jabotinsky about Shevchenko:
“He (Shevchenko) gave both his people and the world clear, unshakable proof that the Ukrainian soul is capable of the highest heights of original cultural creativity… Shevchenko will always remain what nature created him: a dazzling precedent that does not allow Ukrainians to deviate from the national path revival.”
Alliance with Maxim Slavinsky: Defense of the Jewish Population
Jabotinsky and Maxim Slavinsky, the UPR ambassador to Czechoslovakia, had a long history of friendship and political cooperation. One of the striking examples of their interaction was the agreement on the creation of the Jewish gendarmerie, concluded in 1921 in Carlsbad. This alliance was aimed at protecting the Jewish population from possible pogroms in territories controlled by the Ukrainian People’s Republic (UNR).
Quote:
“Zhabotinsky’s cooperation with Ukrainian political figures emphasizes his commitment to the ideas of national freedom and mutual support of peoples.”
Jabotinsky and the State of Israel
Jabotinsky played a vital role in the creation of the State of Israel. His ideology formed the basis for the formation of modern right-wing parties in Israel, such as the Likud party. In 1948, Menachem Begin, a student of Jabotinsky, founded the Herut movement, which became a continuation of his teacher’s political program. Subsequently, Herut turned into Likud, a party that still remains one of the leading political forces in Israel.
The Jabotinsky Institute in Tel Aviv is dedicated to perpetuating the memory and ideas of the great thinker. Also in the building where the Jabotinsky Institute is located is the headquarters of the Likud party. This is a symbolic reminder that Jabotinsky’s ideas are still alive and relevant.
Memory of Jabotinsky:
In Israel, streets in Tel Aviv, Petah Tikva and other cities are named after him.
There is also a street in Kyiv named after Vladimir Zhabotinsky.
Jabotinsky’s ashes were transferred to Jerusalem in 1964, according to his will, and buried on Mount Herzl, which symbolized his deep commitment to the creation of a Jewish state.
Political struggle and confrontation with Nazi Germany
With Adolf Hitler’s rise to power in Germany in 1933, Jabotinsky became one of the main supporters of the idea of a worldwide boycott of German goods. He categorically opposed cooperation with the Nazi regime and criticized the agreement between the Jewish Agency and the German government, which concerned the repatriation of German Jews to Palestine.
Quote from Jabotinsky about Petlyura:
“I grew up with them, together with them I fought against anti-Semites and Russifiers – Jewish and Ukrainian. Neither I nor the rest of the thinking Zionists in the south of Russia will be convinced that people of this type can be considered anti-Semitic.”
Personal legacy of Jabotinsky
The personality of Vladimir Jabotinsky has become an important part of not only Jewish, but also world history. His works and ideas had a profound influence on the development of both Israeli and Ukrainian culture and politics. His biography reflects the struggle for freedom, equality and independence that continues to inspire generations of politicians and public figures.
Key points in Jabotinsky’s biography:
Life period
Events and achievements
1880
Born in Odessa, Russian Empire
1900s
Became a journalist, writer, active political figure in the Jewish and Ukrainian movements
1925
Founded Revisionist Zionism and the movement that demanded the creation of a Jewish state
1935
Created the “New Zionist Organization” with the goal of forming a Jewish majority on both banks of the Jordan
1940
Died in New York.
1964
Reburial of Jabotinsky’s ashes in Jerusalem, on Mount Herzl, according to his will
Modernity
The Jabotinsky Institute in Tel Aviv, streets in Israel and Kyiv, memorials, memory of his contribution to the creation of the State of Israel
Jabotinsky in modern culture
The name of Vladimir Jabotinsky is widely immortalized in Israel and beyond. Streets, institutions, and many monuments are named after him, highlighting his enormous contribution to the creation and development of the State of Israel.
Jabotinsky remains a symbol of the struggle for national interests, freedom and dignity of all peoples with whom he interacted throughout his life.
Quote from NAnews:
“Jabotinsky was not only the creator of revisionist Zionism, but also a passionate supporter of the ideas of freedom and justice that continue to inspire modern politicians.”
In the section “Jews from Ukraine” — the story of Ephraim Moses Lilien, an artist from Drohobych, who is called the first Zionist artist. His journey took him through Galicia, Krakow, Munich, Berlin, Basel, and Jerusalem, and his graphics helped the Jewish national movement find its own visual language.
A Jew from Drohobych who became an artist of national revival
Ephraim Moses Lilien was born on May 23, 1874, in Drohobych — a city in Galicia, which was then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Today it is the Lviv region of Ukraine. At birth, his name is also indicated as Maurycy Lilien. He died on July 18, 1925, in Badenweiler, Germany, but between these two dates, he managed to travel a path that connected Ukrainian Galicia, European modernism, Jewish culture, Zionism, and the future Israel.
For the section “Jews from Ukraine” Lilien is an almost ideal hero. His biography shows that Jewish history on Ukrainian lands is not only about shtetls, synagogues, pogroms, wars, and tragedies of the 20th century. It is also a powerful contribution to world art, European graphics, the culture of the Jewish national movement, and the visual language without which early Zionism would look different.
He was not born in Jerusalem, Berlin, or Vienna. His first point on the map was Drohobych.
Jews from Ukraine: Ephraim Moses Lilien, from Ukrainian Drohobych, through ‘Theodor Herzl in Basel, 1901’ to ‘the first Zionist artist’
It was from this city that the man later called “the first Zionist artist” emerged. This definition does not mean that there were no artists among Jews before him. It means something else: Lilien was one of the first to turn the idea of Jewish national revival into recognizable images — prophets, exiles, heroes, farmers, people who look not only back to the past but also forward to the future.
Drohobych was not an accidental backdrop. Galicia at the end of the 19th century was a complex space where Ukrainian, Jewish, Polish, German-speaking, and Austrian cultural environments coexisted. Here, a talented person could hear different languages, see different religious traditions, and early understand that identity is not a flat scheme but a whole world.
Later, Drohobych will be associated with Bruno Schulz, the Gottlieb brothers, and other names important for European and Jewish memory. Lilien occupies a special place in this row: he became not only an artist of his city or his time but also one of those who helped the Jewish people see themselves in a new historical image.
From a sign maker to European modernism and Zionism
Ukrainian period: Drohobych, Lviv, Krakow, and Lilien’s first steps
Ephraim Moses Lilien was born on May 23, 1874, in Drohobych — then it was Galicia as part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, today the Lviv region of Ukraine. In the Ukrainian context, this is fundamental: his first cultural environment was precisely Galician, Drohobych, multinational.
He grew up in a poor Jewish family.
According to Ukrainian sources, Lilien’s father was a craftsman, a carver, or a turner. The family did not have money for a full gymnasium, so the future artist received primary education in a Jewish real school. It was already clear then that he had artistic abilities.
His first practical skills were not acquired in an academy but in a craft.
Young Lilien worked as an apprentice to a master who dealt with signs and shields. This is an important detail: his path to art began not with salons but with applied urban graphics — letters, lines, decorative forms, signs, the visual language of the street. Later, the sense of line and poster expressiveness would become one of the strong sides of his style.
In 1889, at about 15 years old, Lilien went to study at the Krakow School / Academy of Arts. There he studied painting and graphic techniques until 1893, including under Jan Matejko, one of the greatest artists of the Polish historical school. This stage is still connected with the Galician cultural space: Krakow was then an important artistic center for youth from Galicia.
Due to a lack of money, studies were not calm and continuous. Encyclopedic materials note that financial difficulties forced Lilien to return home and earn as a sign artist.
According to the “Encyclopedia of Modern Ukraine,” in 1892–1894, he worked in Drohobych, and later he repeatedly visited and worked in Lviv — in 1894, 1899–1905, 1911, 1914, and 1923.
Thus, Lilien’s Ukrainian period is not only a fact of birth in Drohobych.
It is childhood in Jewish Galicia, early craft school, first earnings, studies in the Krakow artistic environment, and constant returns to the Lviv-Drohobych region. Only later will there be Munich, Berlin, Basel, Herzl, “Bezalel,” and Jerusalem. But the basis of his view — the urban line, Jewish memory, Galician multilingualism, and the sense of cultural borderland — was formed precisely here.
This biography is similar to the path of many talented people from Galicia: first a provincial town, then a craft, then an art school, then major European centers. But Lilien did not dissolve in the European environment. On the contrary, it was there that he turned the Jewish theme into a modern artistic language.
He worked in the aesthetics of Art Nouveau, or Jugendstil — European modernism at the turn of the 19th–20th centuries. It was a style of decorative line, symbols, elongated figures, ornaments, strong black-and-white contrast, and almost musical rhythm of composition. But for Lilien, modernism was not just a beautiful form. Through it, he spoke of Jewish memory, exile, biblical past, national dignity, and hope for return.
His graphics were distinguished by a special tension. There was little accidental in them. The line could be soft and decorative, but the meaning often remained heavy: slavery, longing, expectation, spiritual resilience, the movement of people through history.
Lilien became known primarily as a book graphic artist, illustrator, and master of print graphics. His works existed not only in exhibition space. They appeared in books, magazines, albums, postcards, public projects — that is, they became part of mass visual memory. That is why his influence turned out to be broader than that of an artist working only for galleries.
How Lilien came to Zionism: Berlin, 1900, and the people around him
Lilien came to Zionism not through a party career but through the artistic and Jewish intellectual environment.
After studying in Krakow, Vienna, and Munich, he moved to Berlin in 1894. By the late 1890s, Lilien was already known in Berlin’s artistic and bohemian circles as a master of ex-libris, book, and magazine illustrator. At the same time, interest in the idea of “Jewish renaissance” — cultural renewal, which went alongside political Zionism, was growing in the German-speaking Jewish environment.
A key turning point was 1900 when the book “Juda” was published. The texts for it were written by the German poet Börries von Münchhausen, and the illustrations were created by Lilien. This book made him a notable figure among cultural Zionists: in it, Jewish antiquity was shown not as a museum past but as a source of strength, dignity, and national future.
It was after “Juda” that Lilien began to be actively perceived as an artist who could give the Jewish national movement its own visual language. His works were highly appreciated by representatives of cultural Zionism, including the circle of Martin Buber. Buber and cultural Zionists close to him saw in Lilien an artist capable of combining European modernism with the Jewish national idea.
An important figure next to Lilien was also Berthold Feiwel — a publicist, editor, one of the active figures of the Zionist movement. He was connected with circles where not only Herzl’s politics were discussed but also the need for new Jewish culture, literature, and art. Through such an environment, Lilien found himself not on the periphery but at the very center of cultural Zionism.
The next important date is 1901. Lilien participated in the Fifth Zionist Congress in Basel and joined the democratic-Zionist faction. It was there that he created the famous image of Theodor Herzl on the balcony of the Les Trois Rois hotel. This portrait became one of the visual icons of political Zionism.
Thus, Lilien’s connection with Zionism became obvious. He was not a politician like Herzl and was not an organizer of the movement in the usual sense. His role was different: he made Zionism visible. Herzl gave the movement a program and a political dream, and Lilien gave this dream a face, a line, a symbol, and emotional strength.
In 1903, another important publication was released — “Lieder des Ghetto” / “Songs of the Ghetto” by Morris Rosenfeld with illustrations by Lilien. These images of poverty, exile, pain, and hope were also used in Zionist visual culture. Through them, Lilien showed the old Jewish world but at the same time hinted at the need to escape humiliation and return to dignity.
A logical continuation was the work with Boris Schatz. In 1904, Lilien, together with him, engaged in the idea of creating a Jewish art school in Jerusalem. In 1905, a society related to the future “Bezalel” project was created in Berlin, and in 1906, Lilien, together with Schatz, came to Jerusalem, helped open the school, taught the first class, and participated in forming its visual direction.
Therefore, Lilien’s path to Zionism can be shown as follows:
1894 — Berlin: entry into Jewish artistic and intellectual circles.
1900 — “Juda”: the first major work after which he began to be perceived as an artist of Jewish national revival.
1901 — Basel: Fifth Zionist Congress, democratic-Zionist faction, famous image of Herzl.
1903 — “Songs of the Ghetto”: visual language of Jewish pain, exile, and hope.
1904–1906 — Boris Schatz and “Bezalel”: transition from European Zionist graphics to an attempt to create Jewish art in Jerusalem.
Thus, it becomes clear that Lilien did not “accidentally find himself next to Zionism.” He entered it through Berlin, through the circles of cultural Zionism, through Martin Buber, Berthold Feiwel, Boris Schatz, through the book “Juda,” the Basel Congress, and the image of Herzl. His contribution was not political but visual: he helped Zionism see itself.
Why Lilien is called the first Zionist artist
At the end of the 19th — beginning of the 20th century, Zionism was not only a political movement. It needed a language. Not only the language of speeches, programs, and congresses but also the language of images. What does Jewish return look like? How to present Zion to a person who has never seen Eretz-Israel? How to show not only the suffering of exile but also the dignity of a people who want to become the subject of their own history again?
Lilien gave this movement a strong visual form.
The National Library of Israel directly calls him “the first Zionist artist.” Materials about him emphasize that his turn to Zionist art is associated with the Fifth Zionist Congress.
It is important to understand: he did not “create Zionism.” Zionism as a political movement had its leaders, ideologists, organizers, congresses, and institutions. But Lilien helped make Zionism visible. He gave it faces, lines, symbols, poses, biblical depth, and modern artistic energy.
In his works, the Jew was no longer just an image of an exile or a victim. He could be a prophet, a warrior, a farmer, a thinker, a builder of the future. This was fundamentally important for an era when the Jewish national movement was trying to create a new image of itself.
In this sense, Lilien worked not just as an illustrator. He worked as an artist of national imagination.
Herzl in Basel: a portrait that became almost an icon
The most famous visual episode in Lilien’s biography is associated with Theodor Herzl.
In 1901, during the Fifth Zionist Congress in Basel, Lilien made the famous image of Herzl on the balcony of the Les Trois Rois hotel. Herzl stands by the railing and looks into the distance, at the Rhine. This photograph became one of the most recognizable images of political Zionism. The Jewish Museum of Switzerland describes it as a postcard with a reproduction of Ephraim Moses Lilien’s photograph “Theodor Herzl in Basel, 1901“.
Jews from Ukraine: Ephraim Moses Lilien, from Ukrainian Drohobych, through ‘Theodor Herzl in Basel, 1901’ to ‘the first Zionist artist’
The strength of this portrait is not only that it depicts Herzl. The strength is in the composition. He looks not like an ordinary congress participant but like a person looking into the future. In this image, there is loneliness, a prophetic pose, anxiety, and confidence at the same time.
And here it is important to remember: one of the main visual symbols of the Zionist movement is associated with an artist from Drohobych.
Lilien did not just press the camera button. He knew how to see the symbol. He understood how to create an image of an era from a real person. That is why Herzl on the balcony became more than a portrait. It became a visual formula for the dream of a Jewish future.
There is another important detail. Lilien often used Herzl’s features as a model for the image of the “new Jew.” In Herzl, he saw not only a politician but also a type of face that could be turned into an artistic sign of national revival.
Main works of Lilien: from “Juda” to “Songs of the Ghetto”
Lilien is known not for one work. His legacy includes book graphics, biblical illustrations, Zionist symbols, photographs, portraits, and projects related to Jewish culture at the beginning of the 20th century.
“Juda”: ancient history as an image of the future
One of Lilien’s key works was the 1900 edition of Juda — a book of ballads on Old Testament themes by the German poet Börries von Münchhausen with illustrations by Lilien. Encyclopedic sources note that it was this project that helped turn him into one of the main artists of the Zionist theme; the Israel Museum writes that the illustrations for this book almost immediately made Lilien an outstanding Zionist artist.
Why is this important?
Because in Juda, the ancient history of Israel was presented not as a dead past. It looked like a source of strength. Biblical characters in Lilien’s work were not museum figures. They were strong, monumental, almost modern. In them, a reader at the beginning of the 20th century could see not only a religious plot but also a national idea.
This was an important step: Jewish antiquity became the language of the future.
“Lieder des Ghetto”: the pain of exile and the dignity of the people
Another important project is Lieder des Ghetto, or “Songs of the Ghetto,” illustrations for the German translation of poems by Morris Rosenfeld. This cycle became one of the most famous in Lilien’s legacy. It features themes of poverty, labor, exile, suffering, social pain, and hope.
For the Ukrainian context, there is an additional bridge here. Morris Rosenfeld was a Jewish poet writing in Yiddish, and Ivan Franko translated his texts into Ukrainian. Therefore, around “Songs of the Ghetto,” an amazing cultural connection arises: Jewish poetry, a world-class Ukrainian translator, and an artist from Drohobych who creates strong visual images for these motifs.
This does not mean that Franko and Lilien worked together on one project. But it shows how close intellectual and artistic intersections could be in the Eastern European Jewish-Ukrainian space.
Biblical illustrations: the past as the energy of return
Lilien worked a lot with biblical plots. He was interested in prophets, patriarchs, exodus, land, exile, struggle, spiritual mission. In such works, he did not just illustrate the text. He created an image of Jewish history as a continuous line leading from antiquity to modern national awakening.
Researchers note that in Lilien’s biblical graphics, the past is often presented as majestic and alive, resonating with the ideas of spiritual and artistic revival.
In his work, a biblical hero could look like a person already belonging to the modern world. This was Lilien’s special strength: he did not leave Jewish history in the past. He translated it into the language of his time.
Images worth remembering
Among the well-known works and motifs of Lilien, “The Queen of Sabbath,” “The Silent Song,” “Zion,” images of the victims of the Kishinev pogrom, biblical scenes with Abraham, Joshua, Balaam, and other characters are often mentioned. In these works, it is visible how the artist combined the decorativeness of modernism with heavy historical memory.
His art was beautiful but not easy.
Lilien and “Bezalel”: from Drohobych to Jerusalem
Another important chapter is Lilien’s connection with Jerusalem and the “Bezalel” art school.
In 1906, he, together with Boris Schatz, was involved in the creation of the “Bezalel” Academy of Arts and Design in Jerusalem. The National Library of Israel notes Lilien’s participation in the trip to Eretz-Israel with Schatz and associates him with the school’s emblem.
Yes, his stay in Jerusalem was not long. But even short participation had symbolic significance. Lilien found himself next to one of the first institutional projects of Jewish art education in Eretz-Israel.
This was a path that beautifully fits into one line: Drohobych gave him a start, Krakow and Munich — a school, Berlin — an artistic scene, Basel — a Zionist symbol, Jerusalem — a connection with future Israeli art.
For the Israeli audience, this line is especially important. Lilien was not just a “Jewish artist from Europe.” He was one of those who helped form the visual ground on which the art of Eretz-Israel and Israel later developed.
Ukrainian trace: why Lilien is important not only to Israel
In the Ukrainian perspective, Lilien is important as part of the multinational heritage of Galicia.
He was born on the territory of modern Ukraine. His early environment — Drohobych, Galicia, the Jewish community, the Austro-Hungarian cultural world. His path shows that Ukrainian land gave the world people who influenced not only local history but also world culture.
Such biographies are especially important today when Ukraine is rethinking its own complex memory. Russian propaganda has been trying for decades to simplify Ukrainian history, presenting it as flat, secondary, or artificial. But stories like Lilien’s biography show the opposite: Ukraine was and remains a space of many cultural lines.
Here lived and created Ukrainians, Jews, Poles, Armenians, Greeks, Germans, Crimean Tatars, and other peoples. Their heritage does not cancel Ukrainian identity. On the contrary, it shows its depth.
Lilien is not a “foreign” figure for Ukrainian memory. He is a Jewish artist from Drohobych, a son of Galicia, a person whose biography connects a Ukrainian city with Berlin, Basel, and Jerusalem.
For NANovosti — News of Israel | Nikk.Agency, such stories are especially important because they help see Ukrainian-Israeli connections not only through diplomacy, war, and politics but also through a deeper layer — memory, culture, art, family roots, and the shared history of the Jewish people in Ukraine.
Lilien, Franko, Lesya Ukrainka: invisible cultural threads
In recent years, Lilien’s name in Ukraine is increasingly spoken of not only as a Zionist artist but also as a figure that can be placed alongside Ukrainian intellectual pursuits at the turn of the 19th–20th centuries.
Here an interesting connection arises: Lilien, Ivan Franko, Lesya Ukrainka.
At first glance, these are different worlds. Franko — a Ukrainian writer, thinker, translator, and public figure. Lesya Ukrainka — one of the key figures of Ukrainian literature, author of dramatic and poetic texts about freedom, strength of spirit, captivity, dignity, and resistance. Lilien — a Jewish graphic artist associated with modernism and Zionism.
But if you look deeper, there are indeed “invisible threads” between them.
All three lived in an era when the peoples of Eastern Europe were searching for the language of their own dignity. All three worked differently with themes of freedom, national awakening, historical memory, spiritual strength, and resistance to humiliation. For Franko, it was word and thought. For Lesya Ukrainka — dramatic energy and inner freedom. For Lilien — line, image, symbol, the face of a new person.
It is especially interesting that Lilien and Franko meet through the theme of Morris Rosenfeld. Lilien illustrated “Songs of the Ghetto,” and Franko translated Rosenfeld into Ukrainian. This is one of those cultural bridges that are rarely visible in school textbooks but are important for understanding the true depth of the Ukrainian-Jewish space.
What image of a Jew did Lilien create
Before the era of Zionism, European art often depicted Jews through an outsider’s view. These could be stereotypes, religious caricatures, images of poverty, alienation, or exoticism. Lilien offered a different image.
In his work, the Jew is not an object of someone else’s observation but a subject of his own history.
He can suffer but does not disappear. He can be an exile but does not lose dignity. He can remember destruction but look forward. He is connected with the Bible but does not get stuck in the past. He is modern, strong, beautiful, tragic, and aimed at return.
This is the essence of his Zionist graphics.
Lilien did an important thing: he visually restored the dignity of the Jewish body, the Jewish face, the Jewish memory. His heroes often look monumental. They possess a strength that was so lacking in European stereotypes of the ‘weak’ or ‘landless’ Jew.
Therefore, his works were important not only as art. They participated in the creation of a new self-perception.
Why Lilien is important for Israel today
For Israel, Ephraim Moshe Lilien is part of the early cultural history of Zionism. He lived before the creation of the State of Israel but worked with images that helped make this future imaginable, visible, and emotionally convincing.
Herzl gave Zionism a political language. Congress organizers gave it structure. Settlers and builders gave it practical form on the ground. And artists like Lilien gave it a face.
Without images, a national movement remains a program. With images, it becomes part of memory.
That is why Lilien is important not only to art historians. He is important to everyone who wants to understand how the Jewish idea of return became not only a text but also a picture, a symbol, a postcard, an emblem, an illustration, a portrait.
He is also important because his biography reminds us: part of Israel’s cultural roots pass through the cities of modern Ukraine — through Drohobych, Lviv, Odessa, Chernivtsi, Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Uman, Berdychiv, and many other places.
Why Lilien is important for Ukraine today
For Ukraine, Lilien is part of a reclaimed memory.
For a long time, many Jewish names associated with Ukrainian cities were perceived separately: as the history of ‘Jews of Eastern Europe,’ but not as part of the Ukrainian cultural landscape. Today, such an approach no longer works. If a person was born in Drohobych, studied, formed in the Galician environment, absorbed its multilingualism, and then influenced world art, it is impossible to erase him from the Ukrainian cultural map.
Lilien helps Ukraine speak about itself more honestly and deeply.
Not as a monotonous territory where there was only one line of history, but as a complex European space where different peoples created a common cultural fabric. This is especially important during the war when Ukraine defends not only its territory but also its right to its own memory.
Russia tries to destroy Ukrainian cities, erase archives, kill people, destroy cultural symbols, and impose an imperial version of the past. In response, Ukraine reclaims names, places, languages, and destinies that prove: its history is much richer than any imperial schemes.
Ephraim Moshe Lilien is one of those names.
Finale: an artist from Ukraine who helped the Jewish people see themselves
Ephraim Moshe Lilien lived only 51 years. But his path turned out to be surprisingly rich. He was born in Drohobych, went through European art schools, became a master of modernism, joined the circle of Jewish intellectuals and Zionists, created iconic illustrations, photographed Herzl in Basel, and was connected with the artistic beginnings of Jerusalem.
He was called the first Zionist artist not because he was the only one. But because he was one of the first to give the Jewish national revival a coherent artistic image.
Lilien helped the Jewish people see themselves not only through the pain of exile but also through dignity, beauty, strength, memory, and hope.
And in this, there is a special Ukrainian note. One of the artists who created the face of early Zionism was born in Ukrainian Drohobych. His line went from Galicia to Basel and Jerusalem. Therefore, his name rightfully belongs to several stories at once — Jewish, Ukrainian, European, and Israeli.
For the section ‘Jews from Ukraine‘, Ephraim Moshe Lilien is not just the biography of an outstanding artist. It is proof that Ukrainian land gave the Jewish world people who changed not only the culture of their time but also how an entire people envisioned their own future.
Man-bridge: Drohobych — Berlin — Basel — Jerusalem — Braunschweig
The biography of Ephraim Moshe Lilien is most accurately described not by a straight line ‘Drohobych — Jerusalem,’ but by a route through several cultural centers: Drohobych, Berlin, Basel, Jerusalem, and Braunschweig.
Lilien was born on May 23, 1874, in Drohobych — then it was Galicia within Austria-Hungary, today the Lviv region of Ukraine. It was there that the path of the artist began, who would later become one of the main visual authors of early Zionism.
After his first steps in the craft and studies in Krakow, his road went through Vienna, Munich, and Berlin. In 1894, Lilien moved to Berlin, where he became known as a book graphic artist, illustrator, photographer, and master of modernism.
A key date is 1901. During the Fifth Zionist Congress in Basel, Lilien created the famous image of Theodor Herzl on the balcony of the hotel Les Trois Rois. This portrait became one of the visual icons of political Zionism.
In 1906, Lilien found himself in Jerusalem and was associated with the early history of the Bezalel School of Arts, created by Boris Schatz. He did not just ‘visit’ Eretz Israel: Lilien participated in launching a new Jewish art school, taught the first class, helped set its visual direction, and, according to the National Library of Israel, created the design of the Bezalel emblem.
His task was not only pedagogical. Lilien helped connect biblical plots, the Zionist idea of return, and the language of European modernism. Through him, early Bezalel received not just a curriculum but an artistic idea: Jewish art should speak of the past but look to the future.
In Eretz Israel, he also worked as a photographer. In 1906, Lilien photographed Jerusalem, the country’s inhabitants, types, and scenes around the new school: among the known subjects are a Yemenite Jew, Samaritan high priest Amram ben Yitzhak, an Arab figure in an abaya, as well as the Bezalel drawing class. This is important: Lilien looked at the country not only as a Zionist artist but also as a visual witness of the era.
However, Jerusalem did not become his permanent home. Already in 1907, Lilien returned to Berlin but continued to visit Palestine. Sources usually indicate that between 1906 and 1918 he was there four times. One of the subsequent trips was related to World War I: Lilien served in the Austrian military press corps as a war photographer.
In the same 1906, he married Helene Magnus from a Jewish family in Braunschweig. Therefore, after his death on July 18, 1925, in Badenweiler, Lilien was buried not in Jerusalem but in the Jewish cemetery in Braunschweig.
Drohobych gave him roots, Europe — an artistic language, Basel — a place next to Herzl, Jerusalem — a connection with Bezalel, and Braunschweig became the last point of his earthly journey.
Ephraim Moshe Lilien is buried in the New Jewish Cemetery in Braunschweig, Germany, next to his wife Helene. His tombstone is made based on his own illustration ‘Cemetery’ / ‘Friedhof’ for Morris Rosenfeld’s book ‘Lieder des Ghetto.’ In this illustration, Lilien depicted a tombstone with his name in advance — and after his death, this artistic image was brought to reality.
