JNS
Israel is navigating perilous diplomatic terrain in Ukraine
by Michael Oren
February 27, 2022

Ever since biblical times, the people of Israel have had to navigate the harsh terrain between clashing global powers. Now, here we are again, in Ukraine, having to maneuver between Russia and the West. The terrain this time around is exceedingly difficult, with significant security and ethical pitfalls along the way. On one hand, our security situation requires us to keep all channels with Russia open. For the past seven years, ever since Russian forces entered the Syrian civil war, the IDF has managed to avoid any head-on collisions with Moscow, despite Israel’s intensive campaign to dislodge Iran from the war-torn country. READ MORE

JERUSALEM POST Editorial Board: The Ukraine crisis presents a moral dilemma for Israel On Friday, Israeli Ambassador to Russia Alex Ben-Tzvi was summoned to the offices of Russia’s Foreign Ministry in Moscow where he was reprimanded for Foreign Minister Yair Lapid’s condemnation of the invasion of Ukraine a day earlier. In a meeting with Mikhail Bogdanov, the Deputy Foreign Minister and special representative of the president of Russia to the Middle East, Ben-Tzvi was asked why Israel “supports neo-nazis,” a reference to Ukraine. While the reprimand and its consequences will need to be analyzed in the days to come, the truth is that Israel did all it could to avoid condemning Russia.