Tovah Lazaroff
Jerusalem Post, Feb. 18, 2023
“If Russia is the reason that Israel is hesitant to more firmly back Ukraine, then Iran, of course, is one of the critical reasons why it should.”
The US Patriot anti-missile batteries that protected the small airport in Rzeszów–Jasionka Airport where Foreign Affairs Minister Eli Cohen flew in and out of, on his way to Kyiv, seemed to underscore the irony of his trip late last week.
Cohen was protected by defensive weapons, but represented a country that has yet to provide Ukraine with the long-requested anti-missile systems to help safeguard its citizenry, nor has it made a public pledge to do so.
Israeli has refrained from doing so for fear of angering Russia whose military sits on its border in neighboring Syria.
The question of whether Israel would cross what has been a red line of its Ukrainian policy was one of the central questions undermining Cohen’s trip. Ukraine has been critical of Israel, particularly on this issue, with its ambassador in Tel Aviv Yevgen Korniychuk repeatedly saying that his country needs more than bandages from Israel.
Israel’s policy had at first been one of neutrality, as former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett attempted to mediate between Russia and Ukraine. When talks did not seem like they had any chance of success, Israel lost some of its neutral veneer but lagged behind its Western allies. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had been expected to turn the diplomatic wheel slightly back in the direction of Russia, but instead has been pivoting toward Ukraine, a move he is under pressure from the United States to make.
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