| | | “Israel is not only not our most important ally in the Middle East, I’m not even sure they are an ally.”
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The Israeli Reaction to the War in Ukraine
IWMPost Article
Demonstrators wave flags of Israel and Ukraine during a protest against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and ahead of a televised address by the Ukrainian president in Tel Aviv on March 20, 2022. Photo: JACK GUEZ / AFP / picturedesk.com
Israel has long sustained close diplomatic and commercial ties with Ukraine, and is also a strong ally of the US and EU countries. And yet, the Israeli government was reluctant to condemn the Russian aggression, has not joined the international sanctions on Russia and had refused pleas to supply weapons to the Ukrainian army.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has exposed the particularities of Israel’s position in the international scene. Perhaps most striking is Israel’s hesitance to overtly condemn Russia in the early days of the war. It has since joined the international condemnation, but it has gone to great length to also portray itself as a neutral party in many regards. Despite being one of the largest exporters of arms internationally, Israel has rebuffed President Volodymyr Zelensky’s pleas to send Ukraine military supplies and has confined its assistance to the war-torn country to humanitarian aid. Alongside China, India, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates, Israel is also one of only a handful of countries to have abstained from imposing economic sanctions on Russia, much to the United States’ dismay. Given what is often described as its “special relationship” with Washington, and its close connections with the European Union, Israel’s cautious approach towards Russia has surprised many external observers. |
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