Ukraine orders Israeli weapons, and Russia warns Will Moscow-Tel Aviv relations explode?

Israel still refuses to supply Ukraine with weapons despite the pressures being exerted on it, for fear of angering Russia. Nevertheless, relations between Tel Aviv and Moscow are experiencing tension due to the Israeli position on the Russian attack on Ukraine.

With the beginning of the Russian attack on Ukraine on February 24, tension prevailed in all political, security and military circles in Israel, especially with the succession of explicit Ukrainian demands from Tel Aviv to supply it with weapons.

After days of continuous deliberations and meetings of the so-called “cabinet” security council, Israel officially decided not to interfere in the war, and to be satisfied with providing humanitarian support to Ukraine, fearing for relations with Russia on the one hand, and seeking not to anger Moscow, which controls the course of the earth in neighboring Syria on the one hand. specifically.

However, with the expansion of the war, Israel found itself in the face of widespread Ukrainian and international criticism, not only for its position on supplying Ukraine with weapons, but for its failure to take an explicit and clear position, which has prompted Tel Aviv since then to publicly express political support for Ukraine and reject the Russian attack. Which led to crises in relations with Moscow, which also took the initiative to take steps against Israel, steps that were not significant, but their resonance continued to reverberate in Tel Aviv.

Did Israel give arms to Ukraine?

Israel actually refused to give Ukraine arms, despite the public demands of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, which he made clear during his speech to the Israeli Knesset via video link on March 20, when he asked, addressing the Israeli deputies, saying: "Why don't you give us arms?" He added, "Ukraine made its choice 80 years ago to save the Jews," likening, in several points he mentioned, to the Russian attack on his country with the Nazi Holocaust. "Now is the time for Israel to make its choice," he added.

Months later, Zelensky asked for Israeli weapons again and expressed his shock at Tel Aviv's refusal to supply Kiev with weapons, and despite that, Israel did not move and did not ratify the granting of arms to Ukraine. However, Defense Minister Benny Gantz agreed last July to grant arms to Ukraine. Ukraine has only some types of defensive means that are used for rescue purposes, such as helmets and shields, and insisted on his position refusing to provide any kind of weapon, according to the Hebrew Channel 13 .

The Hebrew Channel 12 says that Ukraine is still communicating with the concerned authorities in Israel, and it is requesting special types of weapons, including anti-armor missiles, drones and the Iron Dome defense system, but it points out that "Israel always meets these requests with refusal."

And the matter does not stop there, as the channel indicated that Israel refuses even the arrival of any type of weapon manufactured in Tel Aviv to Ukraine, even through a third country that buys this weapon, as Germany, Italy and the United States previously demanded not to give Ukraine any Israeli weapons purchased by these weapons. former countries.

Why does Israel hesitate to support Ukraine?

Since the start of the Russian attack until today, the Israeli steps towards this attack seem to be calculated with clear deliberation. This can be inferred from the decision of Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz a few days ago to cancel a scheduled call with his Ukrainian counterpart Oleksiy Rezniko after Russian statements were issued in which Moscow criticized Tel Aviv, according to " Haaretz " Arabic newspaper.

According to the newspaper, the contact was scheduled a few days ago, but was canceled after statements by Russian officials who said that "Israel apparently plans to support Ukraine with weapons."

Perhaps it can be pointed out that Israel's position was not only hesitant, but has become clear and continuous, as Israel refuses in any way to anger Moscow, which was revealed by Minister Nachman Shai's crisis recently.

Israeli Diaspora Minister Nachman Shai wrote in a tweet on Twitter: “This morning it was said that Iran is helping Russia with ballistic missiles. The United States and NATO.

These statements did not pass in Moscow, as the former Russian President and Deputy Chairman of the National Security Council Dmitry Medvedev responded by saying that such a move would "completely destroy relations between Moscow and Tel Aviv." This prompted decision-makers in Israel to immediately deny Minister Shai's statements.

Officials told Barak Rafid, a journalist at Walla's Hebrew website, that "Minister Shai's statements do not represent the official policy of the Israeli government at all."

In turn, the former Israeli ambassador, and a researcher at the Israel Institute for National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University, says in a tweet on Twitter: "Israel is a secondary player here, and it should not take sides. Perhaps Europe and the United States will ask us to leave unequivocally in favor of the West. But Israel should not take an excessively harsh position."

He added, "Israel's interests are complex, and it must take into account the regional presence of Russia, especially in (northern neighbor) Syria, as well as the relationship between Iran and Russia and the Jews in Russia."

Israel has repeatedly announced that it has carried out hundreds of air attacks on Iranian and Hezbollah targets in Syria over the past years. Israel has also repeatedly pointed out the coordination between the Israeli and Russian armies, during the implementation of these attacks.

In this regard, Carmit Valenci, a researcher at the same Israeli institute, said in a tweet on Twitter: "The escalation is an important test for Israeli-Russian relations, especially in light of Russia's involvement in Syria. Israel's primary interest is to maintain freedom of operations in Syrian airspace, and it requires a policy Be wary of Moscow.

"Hence the weak condemnation from Israel, and the decision not to sell the Iron Dome (air defense system) batteries to Ukraine," Valenci added.

Relations with Russia

Tensions began in the Russian-Israeli relations since the beginning of the Russian intervention in Syria, but their intensity increased with the start of the Russian attack on Ukraine. The Russian, although he did not show outrage until this moment.

Israel, which officially decided not to help Ukraine militarily, "found no escaping the responsibility of taking a political position, at least, as the political leadership in Tel Aviv considered that the Israeli government should express its bias towards the democratic western axis represented by the United States and the Russian Federation, and its position on what is happening in Ukraine." According to officials’ statements to the Hebrew “Walla” website.

Israel announced its rejection of the Russian attack, but it did not join the countries that imposed sanctions on Moscow.

Despite this, relations between the Israeli and Russian sides have witnessed sharp tension recently, especially with the successive Israeli condemnations of the Russian attack, the latest of which was Prime Minister Yair Lapid's condemnation of the Russian bombing "which targeted civilians in Kyiv," he said. This prompted the response of the Russian embassy in Tel Aviv, which said in a statement that "the recent attacks on Kyiv targeted only the military infrastructure."

Also months ago, tension escalated between Tel Aviv and Moscow against the backdrop of Israeli statements rejecting the war and supporting the territorial integrity of Ukraine, but this time it seems that the tension had an impact of another kind on the ground.

Last August, the Russian Ministry of Justice announced that it was seeking to dissolve the country's "Jewish Agency" over what it said was a "violation of privacy laws and the encouragement of brain drain".

The Jewish Agency is an agency concerned with helping Jews to immigrate to Israel. The Russian announcement sparked widespread controversy in Tel Aviv, which prompted Israeli President Isaac Herzog to contact his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to discuss this decision, and the two parties agreed, according to a Russian statement, to “continue contacts at the level of the relevant ministries.” about the agency.

It seems that the agency's issue has not been resolved until now, while it appears that it is a Russian "punishment" for Israel, as the agency confirmed that it is in the process of taking a decision to stop its activity in Russia and turn it into an activity via telephone and electronic means.