Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid ordered the Israeli Embassy in Kyiv to move to Lviv in western Ukraine near the border with Poland.
Embassy staff will work from the temporary consular office that Israel has opened in Lviv.
Other Western countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom, moved their embassy staff to Lviv last week.
Israeli diplomats in Ukraine have worked to convince the 15,000 Israelis who were in the country before the crisis to leave, but only about 3,100 have done so.
They are also preparing for the dramatic possibility of an overland evacuation of Ukraine’s 150,000 to 200,000 Jews.
As Russia sends troops to Luhansk and Donetsk after Russian President Vladimir recognized the independence of the breakaway regions on Monday, Israeli officials believe war is increasingly likely.
The assessment is that if war breaks out, it will be increasingly difficult for Jews to leave Ukraine by air.
The Jewish Agency also announced that it would also move its staff from Kyiv to Lviv before reassessing the security situation early next week.
Local Jewish Agency representatives in Kyiv will continue to provide services to members of the local Jewish community, agency officials said.
“The Jewish Agency is closely monitoring developments in the Ukraine region and stands ready to provide assistance in various scenarios, in agreement with the relevant ministries,” said the agency’s acting chairman, Yaakov Hagoel.
