“I am in shock because I don’t understand why they couldn’t give us air defences.” Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that of Israel in a September 2022 interview with French reporters, seven months into Russia’s invasion and after repeated Ukrainian requests for the Iron Dome system.
The shift is in the contrast. Kyiv has asked, and Jerusalem has kept saying no.
The first no
It started in the war’s opening days. According to the Kan public broadcaster, as reported by the Times of Israel on February 28, 2022, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett brushed off a general appeal for military help that Zelensky made on a Friday phone call. The response was what the paper called diplomatic politeness. Zelensky also asked Bennett to mediate with Russia, and Bennett took that idea to Putin on the Sunday.
The same report said Israel had earlier blocked a U.S. transfer of Iron Dome to Ukraine, to protect its relationship with Moscow.
Why Israel held back
The reason was Syria. Israeli forces regularly strike Iranian-backed positions there, and Russia has a large presence on the ground. Israeli officials cited that dependence on Moscow, according to Al Jazeera. The Washington Institute for Near East Policy added more levers Russia could pull: it could curb Israeli operations in Syria, threaten to shut down the Jewish Agency, or draw closer to Iran.
Israel did condemn the invasion and sent humanitarian aid. It declined to join sanctions on Russia.
“We think first of all about our own interests and have to be careful,” Israel’s ambassador to Ukraine, Michael Brodsky, said.
Frustration in Kyiv and at home
Zelenskyy did not pretend to misunderstand. “I understand, they have a difficult situation, regarding the situation with Syria and Russia,” he said. But talks with Israeli leaders, in his words, “have done nothing to help Ukraine.” Prime Minister Yair Lapid had phoned him on September 1 to offer condolences and urge a diplomatic resolution. No weapons followed.
Public opinion in Israel was not uniform. The Washington Institute noted that polling shows most Israelis support Ukraine, though a significant minority opposes arming it, and roughly 15 percent of the population are immigrants from the former Soviet Union or their descendants. Critics included Natan Sharansky and former diplomat Alon Liel, who warned that “if the war ends up with the West having the upper hand, everyone will remember that Israel declined to be part of the effort.”
Sources
- Zelenskyy 'shocked' by Israel's failure to give Ukraine weapons
- Why Israel Is Hesitant About Supplying Ukraine with Air Defense Systems (Washington Institute for Near East Policy)
- Bennett declined Zelensky's request for military aid, report says
