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October 25, 2022 1:35 pm
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Ukrainian Ambassador in Israel Slams Netanyahu’s Opposition to Weapons Requests

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avatar by Ben Cohen

A view of a residential building in Kyiv destroyed by a Russian-manned Iranian drone strike. Photo: Reuters/Roman Petushkov

Ukraine’s envoy in Tel Aviv on Wednesday slammed Israeli opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu for claiming that weapons supplied by Jerusalem to the government in Kyiv would end up in Iranian hands.

“This is an absolutely ridiculous argument,” Yevhen Korniychuk — the Ukrainian Ambassador in Israel — said during an extensive interview with the Glavkom news outlet.

“Netanyahu is a personal great friend of [Russian President Vladimir] Putin, and he will play this card if he becomes prime minister,” Korniychuk added, in a reference to the forthcoming elections in which Netanyahu will seek the prime minister’s post for the third time in his career as leader of the Likud Party.

In an interview with MSNBC last week, Netanyahu expressed his opposition to Ukraine’s repeated pleas for military aid eight months into the invasion of the country by Putin’s armed forces.

“On the question of weapons there’s always a possibility, and this has happened time and again, that weapons that we supplied in one battlefield end up in Iranian hands used against us,” Netanyahu speculated.

Korniychuk expressed frustration with the Israeli stance, which is widely believed to be based on concerns that Russia will direct its Iranian ally to retaliate against Israel from neighboring Syria, where both regimes retain an extensive military presence in support of the dictatorship of President Bashar al-Assad.

“Unfortunately, I cannot appeal to the Supreme Court against the decision of the Ministry of Defense not to provide us with weapons,” the ambassador said. He expressed frustration with the speed of Israel’s responses, claiming that the Ukrainians had been “banging our heads against the wall for eight months.”

He noted that surveys conducted by the Ukrainian Embassy showed that at least 80 percent of Israelis support Ukraine as it resists Russian invasion but still have qualms about providing the country with weapons. He also bemoaned the attitude of Israeli politicians towards Russia, charging that they were more concerned with the fate of Jews in Russia than those in Ukraine, and was scathing about the current Israeli government.

“As the Russian-Israeli businessman Leonid Nevzlin, who helps us a lot, said, smart people in Israel have not been involved in politics for a long time,” Korniychuk remarked. He then dismissed Defense Minister Benny Gantz  as “an overly cautious and frightened politician who likes to be praised for nothing.”

However, Korniychuk underlined that Israel has not remained neutral in the conflict.

“I cannot say that this country simply sits on the fence, as many of our politicians say, and does nothing for Ukraine,” he said. “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Israel expressed a protest against the actions of the Russian Federation, they vote for us at the UN, they provide humanitarian assistance. And I cannot say that we have absolutely zero in matters of military-technological cooperation.”

He also praised Israel for allowing Ukrainian citizens on tourist visas to remain and work in the country, pointing out that other countries, among them Canada and Ireland, had done the reverse.

Separately, Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid pledged on Tuesday to balance support for Ukraine with his country’s vital security interests.

“We are going to support Ukraine,” Lapid told the Jerusalem Post on Wednesday. “We are going to be proactive in supporting Ukraine, and we are going to take Israel’s national security interest into account.”

The head of Ukraine’s Jewish community meanwhile echoed calls for Israel to provide weaponry to the government in Kyiv.

“Friends, it is not too late to join the union of democratic and free countries,” Josef Zissels — head of Ukraine’s Jewish Federation — declared in a statement published on Wednesday.

“Ukraine needs your help. Every day dozens of drones of Iranian origin attack our cities,” Zissels said. “Israel certainly has the technology to effectively fight such a threat. Help Ukraine reduce the number of innocent victims of inhuman aggression. Take your place on the bright and just side of history.”

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