Jerusalem summons Ukrainian ambassador after ‘pro-Russia’ accusations

Israel has “a blatant disregard for moral boundaries,” charge Ukrainian diplomats.

By Lauren Marcus, World Israel News

Israel’s Foreign Ministry summoned the Ukrainian Ambassador to Israel, Yevgen Korniychuk, for a dressing-down after Kyiv accused Jerusalem of harboring a “pro-Russia” stance and charging that by remaining neutral in the conflict, Israel is acting “immorally.”

Since the onset of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Jerusalem has maintained a neutral stance on the war, and Israel has remained one of the few Western countries to maintain warm relations with both Moscow and Kyiv.

Despite Israel spending millions of dollars constructing and staffing a field hospital in Ukraine, supplying millions of dollars in aid and sending extensive humanitarian aid to the embattled country, as well as treating wounded Ukrainian soldiers in Israel free of charge, Kyiv has ramped up its demands that Israel clearly take its side in the conflict.

But on Sunday, the Ukrainian Embassy in Israel finally triggered a formal reprimand from Jerusalem after posting a screed on Facebook slamming the Jewish state for failing to impose Western-style sanctions on Russia and not providing the country with military equipment.

“The so-called ‘neutrality’ of Israel’s government is considered as a clear pro-Russian position,” the Ukrainian Embassy posted on its page. The post specifically referenced recent comments from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said that one reason why Israel will not provide weapons to Ukraine is the fear that those assets could fall into Iranian hands.

The embassy slammed Netanyahu’s comments as “entirely fictional and speculative assumptions” and Foreign Minister Eli Cohen’s recent visit to Kyiv as “fruitless,” despite the fact he pledged some $200 million in foreign aid to the country.

Ukrainian diplomats also accused Israel of having “a blatant disregard for moral boundaries” because Israeli officials attended a recent event in Jerusalem that was organized by the Russian Embassy.

In 2022, Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky equated the war with the Holocaust in a speech to the Knesset, which angered Israeli lawmakers across the political spectrum.