Rishon LeZion and the Ukrainian city of Samar signed a cooperation agreement

The city of Rishon LeZion signed a Cooperation Agreement
(Hebrew: הסכם שיתוף פעולה) with the city of Samar (Ukraine, Dnipropetrovsk region).

The signing of the document was announced by the mayor of Rishon LeZion, Raz Kinstlich in his address to the residents on December 16, 2025.
On the Ukrainian side, the agreement was signed by Serhiy Reznik, the mayor of Samar.

The details of the agreement’s content, specific areas of cooperation, as well as the list of other participants or representatives of the parties were not officially disclosed at the time of publication.

Samar

Samar is a city in Ukraine, on the border of the historical regions of Zaporozhye and Nadnipryanshchyna, the administrative center of the Samar City Community and the Samar District of the Dnipropetrovsk Region, part of the Dnipro Agglomeration. The city is located on the Samara River, a left tributary of the Dnipro, approximately 25 kilometers northeast of Dnipro, and has historically been the center of the Ukrainian ethnocultural region of Prysamarya.

The population of Samar in pre-war years was about 65–70 thousand people. The city has traditionally been multi-ethnic: Ukrainians, Jews, Russians, and representatives of other communities lived here. This diversity has been reflected over the centuries in trade, crafts, religious life, and urban culture.

Historical Development

The city was founded in the first half of the 18th century on the lands of the Liberties of the Zaporozhian Host. By the mid-18th century, Samar had become the center of the Samar Palanka, an important trade and religious center of Prysamarya and the largest city of the Lower Cossacks until the destruction of the Zaporozhian Sich in 1775.

After the abolition of Cossack autonomy, the city gradually lost regional leadership due to the development of the nearby provincial center — Yekaterinoslav, but in the 19th century, it gained the status of a county town and became one of the largest centers of Ukrainian culture in the Yekaterinoslav province.

In the 20th century, the city gained industrial significance: in 1935, the largest tinplate plant in the USSR (now NMTZ) was built here, making Samar an important metallurgical center. At the same time, the city experienced the Holodomor, the Great Terror, Russification policies, and then the tragedy of World War II, including Nazi occupation and mass crimes against the civilian population and the Jewish community.

The Name of the City and Its Changes

The historical and popular name of the city is Samar (dialectically — Samary), derived from the name of the Samara River. In early sources, the city was also known as Samarchyk and Novoselytsia. These names were used in the 18th century and were associated with the Cossack settlement of the territory.

In 1794, after the destruction of the Zaporozhian Sich and the administrative reorganization of the region by the Russian Empire, the city received the colonial Russified name — Novomoskovsk. It was associated with the transfer of the county center and was meant to symbolically establish the connection of the territory with Moscow, displacing the local historical toponymy.

Under the name Novomoskovsk, the city existed from 1794 to 2024, including the entire imperial and Soviet periods. Meanwhile, the popular form “Samary” continued to be used in everyday life until the mid-20th century. In 1917–1918, the first attempt was made to restore the historical name Samar, but it was not implemented due to the events of the Ukrainian Revolution.

As part of the state policy of decolonizing Ukrainian toponyms, the renaming process was resumed in 2022–2024.
On February 21, 2024, the relevant committee of the Verkhovna Rada supported the renaming,
on September 19, 2024, the parliament approved the return of the historical name,
and on September 26, 2024, the decision came into force. The city was officially renamed Samar, and the district — Samarovsky.

Modern Times and War

Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Russia into Ukraine, Samar has been in a zone of constant military threat. Despite being distant from the front line, the city and its residents regularly suffer from missile and drone attacks on infrastructure facilities in the Dnipropetrovsk region, air raid alerts, power supply disruptions, and the consequences of strikes on neighboring areas.

The Jewish Community of Samar: History and Modernity

The Jewish community of Samar (Novomoskovsk) has a long-standing and well-documented history. According to historical sources, Jews began settling in the city in the early 19th century, and by the end of the century, the community had become one of the prominent in the region.

According to the 1897 census, about 1,400 Jews lived in the city, accounting for more than 11 percent of the population. In the early 20th century, Samar had several synagogues, religious schools, a Jewish library, and community organizations. Jewish families played a significant role in trade and the urban economy.

During World War II, the Jewish community of the city suffered catastrophic losses. During the Nazi occupation of 1941–1942, ghettos were established in Samar and the Novomoskovsk district, and mass shootings were conducted. Thousands of Jews were killed, effectively destroying the pre-war community.

In the post-war decades, the Jewish population sharply declined. Religious life was limited, and a significant portion of the survivors left the city.

Today, the Jewish community of Samar remains small, but continues to exist with the support of the Jewish Community of Dnipro. In the city, regular Torah study sessions have been resumed, community members participate in religious holidays and events, and the memory of the tragic pages of history is preserved. In Samar, the building of the former synagogue and memorial sites related to the Holocaust have been preserved.

What the Mayor of Rishon LeZion Raz Kinstlich Stated

Commenting on the signing of the agreement, the mayor of Rishon LeZion, Raz Kinstlich, emphasized that such agreements go beyond formal municipal diplomacy:

“The meetings we hold with cities around the world — whether cooperation agreements or sister cities — are not intended only for local diplomacy. I see them as a real mission.”

According to him, in the current conditions, such contacts acquire special significance:

“In difficult days for the Jewish people and the State of Israel, when anti-Semitism is on the rise, and Jews in the diaspora become victims of violence, explanatory work has power, and international connections have real meaning.”

He also noted that each such agreement strengthens Israel’s international presence:

“Every city that connects with Rishon LeZion connects with our values, our history, and our truth. Each such agreement is another bridge and another voice telling the world who we really are.”

What This Agreement Means

For Rishon LeZion, the agreement with Samar means expanding international contacts against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine and the rise of anti-Semitism in the world, as well as strengthening ties with a city that has a complex and significant Jewish history.

For Samar, cooperation with an Israeli city is a symbolic and practical form of international support, preservation of historical memory, and inclusion in a global dialogue that goes beyond regional politics.

In this context, such agreements become not only a tool of municipal interaction but also part of a broader picture — when cities take on the role of carriers of historical memory, values, and international solidarity. This logic is precisely emphasized by NANews — News of Israel | Nikk.Agency, capturing not only the fact of signing but also its deeper meaning.