Ukrainian Embassy accuses Israel of pro-Russian position, Israeli Foreign Ministry summons ambassador

The Ukrainian Embassy in Israel has accused this state of a "clear pro-Russian position" and called for taking the right side of history. In turn, the Israeli Foreign Ministry intends to summon the Ukrainian ambassador.

Source: Ukrainian Embassy in Israel, The Jerusalem Post

Quote from the embassy: "The Embassy of Ukraine in the State of Israel regretfully emphasises that the current Israeli government has opted for a path of close cooperation with the Russian Federation.

While the people of Ukraine, including its substantial Jewish community, are bleeding under the onslaught of Russian missiles and Iranian drones, the Israeli leadership, hiding behind verbal demagoguery about their neutrality (albeit no longer concealing it) actively forges relations with the Russian Federation. In reality, on the ground, the so-called "neutrality" of the Israeli government is considered as a clear pro-Russian position.

Regrettably, the Israeli government pays little attention to the opinions of its own people and disregards the pleas of the global Jewish diaspora, who unequivocally support Ukraine in its struggle against Russian state terrorism. We urge the Israeli government to change its position and to support Ukraine with defensive means, to support freedom and democratic world order. We expect Israel to be on the right side of history!"

Details: According to the embassy, Israel's pro-Russian position is evidenced by a number of "rather controversial events" that occurred in the first half of 2023 and coincided with the almost complete lack of Israeli humanitarian assistance to Ukraine.

"Particularly noteworthy among them are the fruitless visit of the Israeli Foreign Minister to Ukraine this February and a series of interviews by Prime Minister Netanyahu with media outlets, including the most recent one with the Jerusalem Post on June 22," the statement reads.

The embassy accused Israel of "complete inaction" in providing Ukraine with defence assistance over the past 18 months.

It also noted that in the last interview with Netanyahu, quite fictional and speculative assumptions appeared, suggesting the transfer of Western weapons from the battlefield in Ukraine to the Syrian and Iranian regimes.

Moreover, the Israeli government recently successfully held two rounds of high-level political talks with the Russian Foreign Ministry. In addition, an agreement was reached to create another Russian diplomatic mission in Jerusalem, for which land was even allocated free of charge.

After this statement from the Ukrainian embassy, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Israel plans to summon Yevhen Korniychuk, the Ukrainian ambassador to Israel.

Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said at a briefing that "despite difficult relations with Russia, Israel has been with Ukraine from the beginning of the war to the present day, publicly supported its territorial integrity and sovereignty, and voted to condemn Russia in international forums."

The minister said that last year, Israel sent Ukraine an unprecedented amount of air worth of NIS 80 million [US$22 million], and it has an even larger budget to help Kyiv this year.

In addition, Cohen said that the Israeli missile attack warning system, which is being tested in Kyiv, will save the lives of Ukrainian civilians.

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