Zelensky blames Israel for Russia helping Iran develop its nuke program in exchange for attack drones

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky is blaming Israel for Russia helping Iran develop its nuke program in exchange for Russian attack drones. Zelensky has stated that if Ukraine had immediately secured its skies, “Russian would not have a motive to go to Iran and offer something in exchange for assistance in terror.” But the weight of this burden for securing Ukraine skies should not fall on Israel, which has helped Ukraine whenever possible without engendering threats to its own security.

Israel is between a rock and a hard place. A main concern that necessitated Israel’s caution at the outset of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was the Russian-controlled airspace over Syria. Israel and Russia have been cooperating to control Iran’s presence there. Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu advised the Israeli government in February to be quiet about Russia and focus on Iran. Back In November, Israel and Russia were collaborating on the common goal of ousting Iran from Syria, and established a “deconfliction hotline to keep the sides from getting tangled up and accidentally clashing over Syria.” This collaboration came about despite the long history of cooperation between Russia and Iran, and is now threatened precisely because of Israel’s support for Ukraine.

This is not the first time Zelensky has lambasted Israel for not doing enough. In March, Zelensky drew the ire of Israel when he referred to the Russian attack on Ukraine as “the Final Solution,” adding that “Israel should save Ukrainians like Ukrainian righteous among the nations saved Jews.” No such comparison should be made. Ukraine and Israel are both sovereign countries with very separate histories.

Knesset members called Zelensky’s invocation of the Holocaust “outrageous” and “bordering on Holocaust denial.” But in April, after Israel nonetheless began expanding its aid to Ukraine, “including military assistance,” tensions started to rise between Russia and Israel. Then earlier this month, Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid again defended Ukraine. He condemned Russia for its massive missile barrage across Ukraine. Although Israel did not abandon Ukraine, in the view of Zelensky, Israel is not doing enough, despite the ongoing pressure Israel has over balancing the situation in Ukraine with its own security interests in Syria. 

Ukraine is not a Jewish state. It bears no similarity to Israel, which has been under jihad attack and existential threat since its founding. In fact, Ukraine has a history of persecuting Jews, and as recently as 2017, an anti-Semitism report from the Ministry for Diaspora Affairs under Naftali Bennett, who was Education Minister at the time, found:

“A striking exception in the trend of decrease in anti-Semitic incidents in Eastern Europe was Ukraine, where the number of recorded anti-Semitic attacks was doubled from last year and surpassed the tally for all the incidents reported throughout the entire region combined,”  

The report, published by the Jewish Telegraph Agency and the Jerusalem Post, also stated:

Following the 2014 revolution in Ukraine, which ended with the ousting of Viktor Yanukovych by opponents who said he was a corrupt Russian stooge, “there was the impression that Ukraine, which in the past was unusual in the level of use of antisemitic speech for the promotion of political goals, had succeeded in leaving the scourge in the past,” the report said. But over the past two years, “the use of Jews as scapegoats in public discourse has increased to become very prevalent,” 

The 2014 revolution in Ukraine, which is known as the Maidan Square “revolution,” which toppled the elected government of Viktor Fedorovych Yanukovych, is also questionable. George Soros was a big supporter. He wrote in his blog:

In order for Ukrainians to realize that future, the spirit of the Maidan must be preserved. They will need international support… And my foundation is working with experts in Ukraine to create a strategy for keeping the spirit of the Maidan alive.

In 2019, The Ukrainian newspaper Vesti named Soros the second most influential person in Ukraine, after Zelensky.

Zelensky’s response to Israel since Russia invaded Ukraine prompted a Times of Israel article entitled Zelensky’s Antisemitic Battle Won’t Win His War. It stated:

By singling out Israel to standards by which he does not hold others, Zelensky is stoking antisemitism in general, and particularly at home by making Israel at fault as Ukraine is battered.

It is particularly troubling that Zelensky would put such heavy blame on Israel for Russia helping Iran develop its nuke program in exchange for attack drones. Recall that the Iran-supported Houthis have used Iran’s drones to target Saudi civilian facilities, so there is no argument about the dangerous Iranian drone threat, not only to Ukraine, but to Israel as well. But Zelensky’s accusation against Israel has potentially harmful implications, especially given the danger that Iran has long posed to the Jewish state. Israel is well aware of that danger and has made herculean efforts to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear bomb. Israel will continue to defend itself in a world that is generally sympathetic to Ukraine but hostile to Israel, which has been under perpetual jihad attack since its founding.