The Israeli Foreign Ministry announced on Tuesday that the Ukrainian ambassador had been summoned to the office in connection with accusations against the Israeli leadership of a “clear pro-Russian position.”
“In connection with repeated statements against the policy of Israel, Ukrainian Ambassador Yevhen Korneichuk was summoned for clarification to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on July 3,” the message says. It emphasizes that the Israeli government continues to develop cooperation with Ukraine in accordance with bilateral agreements. Separately, the text mentions that “the actions of the ambassador are not considered useful.”
Since the beginning of a full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in late February last year, Israel has taken a cautious approach and seeks to maintain neutrality between the warring parties, France-Presse notes . Israel provides humanitarian aid to Ukraine. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also talked about helping to ensure civil defense. At the same time, Israel has so far refrained from supplying any weapons.
In a recent interview with The Jerusalem Post, Netanyahu spoke about the special position Israel is in, in contrast to Western countries. Among other things, he pointed to the close military border with Russia and the existing fear that any systems that are transferred to Ukraine could later be used against Israel itself. Netanyahu explained that the weapons could fall into Iranian hands, as he said with Western anti-tank weapons that “the Israelis find on their borders.”
On Sunday, the Ukrainian Embassy in Tel Aviv issued a statement that the current Israeli leadership has chosen the path of close cooperation with Russia. At the same time, the diplomatic mission pointed to the “almost complete absence of Israeli humanitarian aid to Ukraine” and drew attention to Netanyahu’s statements in an interview with The Jerusalem Post. The speeches of the Israeli prime minister, as the Ukrainian embassy notes, have always been aimed at justifying Jerusalem’s inaction in providing defense assistance to Kiev, RBC-Ukraine writes with reference to the diplomatic mission . At a time when the Russian Federation is launching missile strikes on the territory of Ukraine, Israel is hiding behind verbal demagogy about its neutrality and is actively building relations with the Kremlin, the text also says.
At the same time, AFP notes that the statement of the Ukrainian embassy, circulated on social networks, appeared four days after the words of the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Alexei Reznikov about his “very productive conversation” on the phone with the head of the Israeli defense department, Yoav Galant. In his tweet , the Ukrainian minister said that he had discussed with Galant the current situation at the front and the prospects for a project to protect Ukrainians from air threats, mentioning in this regard the Iranian Shahed kamikaze drones, which the Russian army, according to numerous reports, uses in attacks on Ukraine.
Source : svoboda