As an opener, we give our congratulations to Israel’s latest Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu on his election, and secondly, we urge him to keep Israel’s nose out of the Ukrainian/Russian war. His responsibility is to guarantee the safety of his own citizens and taking sides in that conflict can only hurt his nation. Bibi, with his seat as Israel’s leader still warm, this Thursday, had Ukrainian President Tweeting to him not only his congratulations but included the ominous message: “Ukraine and Israel share common values & challenges that now require effective cooperation.”
That really means he’s requesting armaments from Israel to be used against Russia. During the prior administration, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz had it right. He told the European Union ambassadors that while the Jewish state sympathized with the plight of the Ukrainian people, it would not offer any arms. “Our policy vis-a-vis Ukraine will not change – we will continue to support and stand with the West, but we will not provide weapon systems.” He told like it is. That’s as it should be.
And in addition, Ukrainian votes in the UN have have consistently been against the interests of Israel. No friend in that agency, for sure. The latest was their support of a UN resolution demanding that Israel hand over its entire nuclear arsenal to the Atomic Atomic Energy Agency, leaving the Jewish State at the mercy of Iran. Ukraine has also consistently supported the Palestinians who’ve demanded an immediate establishment of their own nation and their accusations against Israel whom they refer to as an “Occupying Power.” Ukraine, a friend to Israel? We think not.
And what about Russia? They are currently in Syria, along with their ally Iran. This is a touchy situation, since Israel repeatedly sends air strikes into their northern neighbor, hitting Iranian military targets. Currently, Russian planes and missiles ignore these attacks. Any move on the part of Israel to support Ukraine would rile the Russians and have them become their hostile enemies. Russia has even warned Israel that it would retaliate and change its neutral stance if Jerusalem sends even defensive weapons to Ukraine.
Citing two unnamed sources familiar with Russian policy, Bloomberg News reported that Russia would respond if Israel passed along air-defense systems directly or through a third party to Ukraine. This same reporting agency followed with remarks made by former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, last month, who warned Israel against sending weaponry of any kind to Ukraine, saying it would “destroy all diplomatic relations between Jerusalem and Moscow.” Take him at his word.
We also have to keep in mind the pressure of our own government on Israel. Tom Nides, our Ambassador to Israel reportedly meets with the Ukrainian Ambassador to Israel every week in a bid to convince Washington to pressure Jerusalem into providing weapons to Kyiv for use in its war against Russia. This is not reassuring to American Israel supporters since our current administration has not been too cuddly with Israel and the election of conservative Prime Minister Netanyahu, will not help that situation at all.
We suggest to Bibi that he continues to supply Ukraine with humanitarian supplies including food, medicine and taking in refugees yet refrain from sending them anything military in nature. Israel has enough of its own problems with Iran, its never ending political wars, terrorism from without and within and should keep hands off the battle between Russia and Ukraine. It’s a no win situation for them.
