Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed frustration and exasperation over Israel’s perceived neutrality in Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine and warned that a possible replacement in office could be in sight after Jerusalem, despite everything agreed to provide the country with complex communications systems. in an interview on Israeli television.
In a long and wide-ranging interview with Israel’s Twelfth Channel “Uvda” investigative program, Zelensky said he may simply not “understand” Israel’s position or its refusal to supply Ukraine with air defense systems, even as he submitted requests for such weapons through the United States. beyond 8 months with successive Israeli prime ministers.
The Ukrainian leader said his first request to Israel at the start of the war last February was for radio systems, “because Israel produces [high] quality radio systems,” followed by requests for air defense weapons such as Iron Dome. His latest call was for Israeli-developed drones, after Russia started Iranian-made suicide drones in Ukraine with devastating effects.
Zelensky said he had even tried to recruit Washington to pressure Israel to provide military aid to Ukraine, though he did not elaborate.
“Yes, I asked,” Zelensky told hosts Ilana Dayan and Itai Anghel in reaction to a question about whether he had asked the United States to pressure Israel on behalf of Ukraine.
The Ukrainian president told “Uvda” that only recently Israel agreed to supply the requested radio systems, the main points are unclear.
When the Iron Dome formula appeared, Zelensky said that no Israeli leader was open to such a discussion. year. ” I don’t perceive Israel. . . I had meetings and asked everyone so many times to help us. It doesn’t just mean giving cash or the military. [It means] opting for the right side,” Zelensky said.
While offering humanitarian aid, Israel has maintained a strict policy of not offering military aid to Ukraine since the invasion by Russian troops on Feb. 24, adding systems that can intercept Russian missile and drone strikes.
The reasoning for the resolution appears to be Israel’s strategic desire to maintain freedom of operations in Syria, as part of its efforts to save Iranian entrenchment on its doorstep. To this end, Israel is cooperating with the Russian military, which largely controls Syria. airspace. Israeli officials have also expressed fears that the complex generation of the army could fall into enemy hands, citing production and source constraints.
But Israel has expressed growing fear over military cooperation between Russia and Iran, with Prime Minister Yair Lapid telling Ukraine’s foreign minister earlier this month that it puts “the whole world at risk. “
Zelensky warned in the interview that Russia’s recent use of Iranian weapons in its attack on Ukraine may be the stimulus Israel needs.
“We are fighting [a] wonderful new union, Russia and Iran, and now I hope that Israel will accept us and react strongly to this,” he said, adding that, according to intelligence from Ukraine and other countries, Russia has acquired some 1,500 Iranian attack drones.
“Perhaps, let’s think in combination about how much they can use, only in Ukraine,” Zelensky said, pointing to the broader risk posed by Russia and Iran.
Zelensky addressed investigators in English in what the screen said was the Ukrainian leader’s first interview with a foreign media outlet in which he did not speak in Ukrainian.
“We are fighting Iran every day, 400 Iranian drone strikes against our people, our civilians, our infrastructure. We gave information to Israel and said ‘help us with air defenses’. . . We can register to oppose this evil in air defense. The infrastructure or establishments of the Israeli army also have drones that can also help us in this attack, in this war,” Zelensky said.
In the interview, the Ukrainian president may simply not directly answer the question of whether he considered Israel a “partner” like the United States and Britain, saying instead that it is a “difficult question. “
“It’s a shame that we don’t have relations [during this war] like I have with Poland or England that I can, every day, tell them the challenge and maybe they help me, ‘let’s talk. ‘I can. ” I don’t understand why we don’t have these kinds of appointments [with Israel],” he said.
Last week, the Ukrainian leader noted a “positive trend” in Kyiv with Israel after the two countries shared intelligence on Russia’s use of Iranian drones.
Ukraine, Zelensky said in the “Uvda” interview, “wants mediators, we want partners, friends,” a reference to former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s first attempts in March to establish a link between Moscow and Kyiv.
“The Russians don’t want mediators, they want to [buy] time and I think they saw Bennett as that [person]. They used it [to save time]. He sought to make peace to avoid war, but he couldn’t. “‘t. He gave medical equipment, he gave a [field] hospital,” Zelensky said, expressing his gratitude and describing Bennett as “young” and “very energetic. “
He also claimed that Bennett and the officials were “angry with me for [criticizing Israel] publicly. “
Asked if Ukraine would be better served through a calmer technique toward Israel and not one in which Kyiv officials criticize the country for its lack of sufficient support, Zelensky said there were many avenues of discussion with Israel, “official and unofficial because I needed results. “however, none were successful.
Ukraine wants “different help,” said the Ukrainian preaspectant, calling for a transparent Israeli position: “We have won humanitarian donations, but are you on the side of the Russians or are you on the side of Ukraine?All my respect to Israel, however, you have to choose, be mediators in this war.
Unlike countries that remained impartial or hesitated to respond to the rise of fascism in Europe before World War II, “Israel is [between] the countries that stand by and watch the next wave of Nazism born this year,” he said.
Zelensky said that while he understood that Israel had to think about its own security and interests, the challenge focused more on “the attitude towards [Russian President Vladimir] Putin, towards his policies. “
Pressed by Dayan, Zelensky admitted that Israel’s moves may have been motivated in part by the fear of Russia and its president.
Still, he said he was still puzzled. Having experienced war and a costly struggle for independence, Zelensky continually said in the interview that he simply did not understand why Israel could not take a clearer stand and stand firm on Ukraine’s side amid Russia’s continued onslaught.
“I don’t perceive Israel, I believe that the government and society are one body, and I cannot perceive whether [the] society supports Ukraine’s struggle for freedom and independence, I cannot perceive why in political circles, why they have another opinion.
“I know Israel [is], the other people in your country know a lot about the war, they’ve noticed a lot of bad things. We perceive and feel the tragedy, what Israelis have experienced. I know the story. . . I in Israel so many times. I had so many parents,” he said.
In the early hours of February 24, when Russian tanks and troops entered Ukraine, Zelensky said it had happened to him that this could be the end of his country.
“It was just a moment, when they arrived in Kyiv and because everyone was talking about. . . this [Russian] 40-mile convoy]. “
Zelensky said he won the first call from U. S. President Joe Biden, whom he described as a “warm discussion of a partner. “Biden showed up to help Zelensky and his circle of family members flee Ukraine amid Russian assassination threats. The Ukrainian president replied that he needed ammunition, “it’s not a gimmick. “
Ukraine today, Zelensky said, “already has the war. “
“Now the world can lose this war, it can lose Ukraine. “
If Russia uses nuclear weapons, as it has threatened to do, “it will be a loss to the world for not giving [Putin] a strong, direct and direct message. It will be a loss for the countries that sought to be mediators. “
“I don’t compromise with terrorists,” Zelensky said, borrowing an American position, in reaction to a consultation on engagement with Moscow.
“If we don’t stay, they will see war. If we are not strong, the world will have a Third World War,” he warned.
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