Just days after Israeli politician Benjamin Netanyahu returned to power, Israel is poised to make a change in its approach to the war in Ukraine.
“On the issue of Russia and Ukraine, there is one thing that we will certainly be doing, and that is less talking about it in public,” Eli Cohen, the government’s foreign minister, said in a speech Monday before noting that Tel Aviv’s humanitarian aid to Kyiv will continue. Cohen also revealed that he planned to speak Tuesday with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who Israeli leaders have shunned since the February invasion.
The vague shift in policy received blowback from U.S. commentators and politicians, including ardently pro-Israel Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.). “[T]he idea that Israel should speak less about Russia’s criminal invasion of Ukraine is a bit unnerving,” Graham tweeted after the speech.
Prior to the speech, Netanyahu reportedly pressured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to abstain from a UN vote that would mandate that the International Court of Justice issue a legal opinion on Israeli actions in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Ukraine, which had previously supported the measure, opted not to attend the late December vote, reportedly in hopes that Tel Aviv would repay the favor by providing Kyiv with sophisticated missile defense systems. Israel has so far opted against sending such weapons to Ukraine, in large part because of its sensitive relationship with Russia in Syria, and Cohen’s speech suggests that Netanyahu has no interest in changing that policy.
The controversial moves highlight the extent to which Netanyahu’s new government, which includes several notorious far-right politicians, will ruffle feathers in Washington, where the Middle Eastern country has long enjoyed bipartisan support.
Outside of Russian issues, Netanyahu’s team has also signaled a desire to step up repressive policies in Jerusalem and the West Bank. His government announced Monday that it will evict over 1,000 Palestinians from the West Bank region of Masafer Yatta in a move that a leading Israeli human rights group called a “fast-tracked war crime.”
And on Tuesday, Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir — a far-right politician who Netanyahu has put in charge of Israeli police — made a provocative visit to the Haram al-Sharif. Also known as the Temple Mount, the area is one of the holiest sites in Islam and Judaism and a consistent flashpoint in Arab-Israeli affairs.
Washington’s ambassador to Israel, Tom Nides, warned after the visit that the U.S. wants to preserve the “status quo” around the holy sites and that “actions that prevent that are unacceptable.”
“We have been very clear in our conversations with the Israeli government on this issue,” Nides told Axios reporter Barak Ravid.
