Adam Kinzinger Beats Up On Israel For Not Sending Weapons to Ukraine

Israel has been subjected to plenty of ill-considered criticism about its refusal to supply Ukraine with defensive weapons. Apparently it is not enough that Israel has already delivered 100 tons of humanitarian aid to Ukraine, more than any other country except the United States. Nor is it enough that Israel voted for the U.N. General Assembly resolution to condemn Russia, and also, at Washington’s instigation, persuaded the U.A.E. to do likewise. Nor is it enough that Israel has opened wide its doors to tens of thousands of refugees from Ukraine, including 25,000 who are not Jewish. And now Israel is building an enormous field hospital for the Ukrainians, the only country that has yet done so. But that is not enough to satisfy Israel’s critics.

Israel is being told that despite all that it has already done, and continues to do, to allay the suffering of Ukrainians, it “must” also send weapons. Volodymyr Zelensky made that appeal in his address to the Knesset. And now so has Congressman Adam Kinzinger, who has included in a statement he released about Israel’s need to do still more for Ukraine no carrots but one big stick: If Israel continues to refuse to send weapons, says Kinzinger, that may well affect American aid to the Jewish state. It’s quite a threat to make to a permanently imperiled state that has been fighting for its survival since it was founded in 1948.

The story of Congressman Kinzinger’s not-so-veiled threat is here: “Congressman Says Israel’s Lack of Support for Ukraine Could Determine Aid,” JNS, March 22, 2022:

A Republican member of Congress suggested that future aid to Israel from the United States could be at stake if Israel does not begin supporting Ukraine against its invasion by Russia.

Israel is being told it must “begin supporting Ukraine”? But Israel has done nothing but support Ukraine since February 24, the day the Russian invasion began. It assembled and shipped 100 tons of humanitarian aid. It voted to condemn Russia in the General Assembly. Its leaders have repeatedly denounced the invasion. The Knesset invited Volydymyr Zelensky to address it. It is now building a field hospital for wounded Ukrainians. It has admitted more Ukrainians, including 25,000 non-Jewish refugees, than any state in Western Europe. Doesn’t this count, Congressmen Kinzinger, as “supporting Ukraine”?

On Sunday, March 20, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed the Knesset, where he criticized Israel’s neutrality in the conflict, preferring to mediate between the two sides.

Zelensky was wrong. Israel is not “neutral.” It choose to give its support to Ukraine in ways other than war materiel. And Zelensky, who now criticizes Bennett’s so far futile attempts to media between Ukraine and Russia, earlier encouraged those same attempts.

His main questions were why Israel has not joined the West’s sanctions against Russia and if the Jewish state could provide use of the Iron Dome missile defense systems.

Surely Zelensky knows what the problem is – a problem unique to Israel. The Israelis face a mortal enemy, Iran, that has openly stated its desire to “annihilate” the Jewish state. Iranian bases in Syria are used both for the transfer of ordinary missiles from Iran to Hezbollah in Lebanon, and for the manufacture of precision-guided missiles, which are then delivered to Hezbollah. Israel has to keep up a bombing campaign to destroy these missiles and disrupt their transfer to Lebanon; so far the Russians have allowed the Israeli Air Force to operate freely in the skies over Syria. Israel knows it cannot afford to lose Russian acquiescence in its bombing campaign, which would almost certainly happen if it supplied weapons to Ukraine. That is the understandable reason – ensuring the lives of its own citizens – that Israel has not sent weapons to Ukraine. Its heart is in the right place, but it also cannot ignore what it would mean if it could no longer bomb Iranian bases in Syria.

Retweeting a summary of Zelensky’s speech by an Israeli journalist, outgoing Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) tweeted that Israel’s reaction to Ukraine should have an effect on future aid from the United States.

Despite criticism, Kinzinger later doubled down on the ultimatum in more detail, while clarifying his support for Israel.

“I deeply support our relationship with Israel. But supporting friends doesn’t mean we look past differences,” he tweeted. “We have stood with Israel and will continue to do so. But at the moment, there is a battle between good and evil—between a world based on raw power or one based on the post-World War II rules. Everyone must pick a side.”

Israel did pick a side: Ukraine. One hundred tons of humanitarian aid, more than from any other country save the U.S. – has already gone to Ukraine. More Israeli aid is on its way, nonstop. Ukrainians are being treated in Israeli hospitals. Israel has welcomed more Ukrainian refugees, including 25,000 non-Jews, than any Western nation. It is building that gigantic field hospital in the western Ukraine. It has felt compelled to withhold the transfer of weaponry to Ukraine because if such aid were given, Israeli leaders believe that would be the end of Russian forbearance for Israeli bombings of Iranian targets in Syria.

“The outcome of this fight,” he [Kinzinger] continued, “will impact the world my son grows up in, and now is the time to call anyone to the carpet who does not do their utmost. If we don’t want to directly attack Russia, then our leverage is in the world uniting in sanctions and assistance for the people of Ukraine. This includes everyone, and Israel doesn’t have a special exemption.”…

Israel is doing its utmost. It should not “be called on the carpet” as if it were a misbehaving child needing to be disciplined. It should instead be praised for all it has been doing to help the people of Ukraine. Kinzinger’s comment that “Israel doesn’t have a special exemption” is uncalled-for. Yes, Israel does have an exemption from the duty to supply weapons to Ukraine, because alone among the 193 countries in the world, it has to make sure it does not so infuriate Putin that he decides to end Israel’s bombing campaign in Syria, so essential to the defense of the Jewish state.

Kinzinger’s palpable want of sympathy for Israel’s unique problem – which is to do as much for Ukraine and its refugees as it possibly can, while at the same time, taking care to avoid so enraging Putin that he starts shooting down Israeli planes over Syria – is deplorable. And he is hardly alone. The Israelis need to keep reminding such threatening scolds as Kinzinger of what they have done for Ukraine, and what they will continue to do, and why, nonetheless, the security of their own citizens has always to come first.