In a rare expression of unity between coalition and opposition figures, Defense Minister Benny Gantz and opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday expressed reluctance to replace Israel’s policy of sending defense aircraft to Ukraine.
“We don’t sell weapons to Ukraine,” Gantz told ultra-Orthodox radio station Kol Chai, highlighting the humanitarian aid Israel has provided and pledging to continue such deliveries months after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Gantz also said that Israel had not sold weapons to the country before.
Yevgen Korniychuk, Ukraine’s ambassador to Israel, told the Maariv newspaper on Tuesday that Gantz canceled a long-awaited call with his Ukrainian counterpart, Oleksii Reznikov, without any earlier explanation this week.
Korniychuk added that Ukraine was “disappointed” by the resolution and did not say his country’s officials would talk to the defense minister in the future.
However, Prime Minister Yair Lapid and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba are expected to speak by phone on Thursday, according to several Hebrew media outlets. Korniychuk said Ukraine surprised with the phone call planned given the upcoming election and Lapid’s role as prime minister.
Meanwhile, in an interview with MSNBC on Tuesday, Netanyahu praised the coalition government’s “caution” with Ukraine, pointing to Israel’s absorption of refugees and other humanitarian initiatives.
He also explained Israeli considerations about arms sales to Ukraine.
“On the weapons factor, there is a choice, and this has happened time and time again, that the weapons we have provided on a battlefield will end up in the hands of the Iranians and will be used against us,” the former prime minister said. He told U. S. television, adding that Iranian-backed forces in the Golan Heights occasionally use Israeli-made weapons in clashes with Iran. The Jewish state.
Netanyahu added that he feared such an outbreak would occur if Israel sold weapons to Ukraine, and that the coalition’s “cautious” stance of not promoting weapons to Ukraine was “important. “
The former prime minister also added that he feared Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could be just a potentially global nuclear conflict, in what he described as a “threshold that has not been crossed in 77 years. “
Earlier Tuesday, Kuleba said his country planned to submit a formal request to Israel requesting prompt air defense a day after Moscow attacked infrastructure and energy sites in Ukraine with drones.
Since the early days of the invasion, senior Ukrainian officials have called on Israel to send its missile defense systems, especially Iron Dome, in public speeches and talks with decision-makers in Jerusalem.
Israel has rejected requests for defensive weapons from Kyiv, especially missile defense systems that can be used to repel Russian airstrikes, despite its sympathy for the country’s fate.
Diaspora Affairs Minister Nachman Shai said earlier this week that he believes Israel is sending weapons to Ukraine, a view not shared by top government officials.
Last Thursday, Korniychuk expressed dismay that Israel had failed to reconsider its position on the war despite seven months of demands.
“They tell us that they are contemplating that possibility, but this is a democratic country and the resolution was made through the defense cabinet,” he said.
Lazar Berman contributed to this report.
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