With Kyiv under attack, Ukraine asks Israel to mediate in war with Russia
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks at a joint press conference following talks with Lithuania and Poland in Kyiv on Feb 23. Photo by Sergei Supinsky/AFP via Getty Images
By Rudy Malcom February 25, 2022
As Russia’s military invasion presses closer to the seat of the Ukrainian government in Kyiv, Israel has been reportedly asked to mediate between the two countries.
The news, reported by a correspondent for Kan News, an Israeli state-owned television channel, comes as Russia bombards the Ukrainian capital with missile strikes. According to correspondent Gili Cohen, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine’s first Jewish president, asked Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett via phone on Friday to serve as an intermediary between Ukraine and Russia.
Exclusive: Zelenskyy asked from Israeli PM Bennet to mediate between #Ukraine and Russia, in the middle of the battle of #Kiev. They spoke via phone, and a source briefed about it told me: Israel is the only Western country that have a good enough relations with both countries.
— Gili Cohen (@gilicohen10) February 25, 2022
Zelenskyy reached out to Israel because it is “the only Western country” that has “a good enough relations with both countries,” Cohen tweeted.
The Bennett-Lapid government has been divided on how to respond to the crisis in Ukraine. As fear for the safety of Jewish communities in Russia and Ukraine intensifies, Israel has been forced to juggle the interests of its long-running alliance with the U.S. and its joint security operations with Russia regarding Iran’s presence in Syria.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
