Israel ready to provide Ukraine with air threat warning system
Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen has met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv and promised to supply Ukraine with a civilian air defence system.
Source: Haaretz; Mykhailo Brodskyi, Ukrainian ambassador to Israel, on Twitter
Details: Haaretz reported that Cohen met with Zelenskyy on 16 February during a visit to Kyiv. It was the first visit by an Israeli official to Ukraine since the Russian invasion started almost a year ago; he promised that Israel would provide Ukraine with an air threat warning system for civilians in 3-6 months.
Earlier on 16 February, Cohen publicly stated, during a joint press conference with his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba, that Israel is developing an air threat warning system for Ukrainians.
Kuleba thanked Israel for the humanitarian aid and stressed that "Israel is well aware of the list of military needs, which was also handed over to their previous government. We are waiting for responsible decisions to protect Ukraine's skies".
Quote from Kuleba: "Today we have laid the groundwork for Israel to be able to make decisions that will be aimed at solving the problems related to Ukraine's airspace. There is no reason why Israel and Ukraine should not stand side by side now."
Details: Cohen did not use the words "war" or "Russia", but twice stated that Israel stands firmly on the side of the Ukrainian people.
Later, a Ukrainian official told Israeli media that they were disappointed that Cohen did not mention Russia during his visit to Bucha, Kyiv Oblast [Russian forces killed hundreds of civilians during occupation of the city of Bucha in March 2022 – ed.].
Cohen also added that Israel has pledged to provide a US$200 million loan to an Israeli company that will participate in the construction of a medical centre in Ukraine.
Earlier, a senior Ukrainian official who spoke to the media anonymously in recent weeks emphasised that a meeting with Zelenskyy would not take place if Cohen came to Ukraine "empty-handed," i.e., without agreeing to at least some of the requirements that Ukraine has put forward to Israel.
These requests include economic aid in the form of a half-billion-dollar loan, diplomatic and humanitarian gestures such as support for the upcoming UN vote on Zelenskyy's peace initiative, which includes a demand for the full withdrawal of Russian troops from all Ukrainian territories they have occupied, and finally military aid.
Background:
- Cohen said that Israel intends to support the peace formula proposed by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
- On 16 February, Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen arrived in Kyiv; it was the first visit of a high-ranking Israeli official to Ukraine since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion.
- On 2 February, Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel, announced, during his meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron, that he was ready to send "military things" to Ukraine. However, he underscored that he could not go too far, so as not to provoke Russia.
- In his speech on 11 October 2022, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in his speech at the video conference of the G7 leaders and Ukraine, proposed a "peace formula", measures that, in his opinion, would deprive Putin of the chance to achieve his goals in Ukraine.
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