Now You’re Coming to Ukraine’s Aid? - Opinion - Haaretz.com
Such rare humanity, the epitome of Jewish morals. After seven months of war, with hundreds of thousands dead and millions turned refugees, Israel under Prime Minister Yair Lapid, Defense Minister Benny Gantz and left-wing ministers Nitzan Horowitz and Merav Michaeli has consented to take in 20 Ukrainian soldiers who suffered war-related disabilities for medical treatment. So far, only two have arrived. Thank you very much.
If it weren’t sad and infuriating, indicative of moral oblivion, one could mock Lapid and the Foreign Ministry for parading Israeli compassion on the backs of two amputees, Ukrainian soldiers arrived at the Sheba Medical Center – accompanied, of course, by televised PR campaigns about the wonderful Israeli humanitarian aid.
From the first day of the Russian invasion, Israel’s conduct has been a stain upon the most basic values of justice, morality, humanity and democracy. Upon the war’s outbreak, then-Prime Minister Naftali Bennett rushed to Moscow to abase himself before Vladimir Putin. Bennett, Gantz and Lapid refused to give Ukraine any aid, even of the most basic medical-humanitarian kind, despite the pleas of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. This in stark opposition to the path taken by most countries of the world, chiefly those of the West, which Israel pretends to belong to. These, led by the United States, Britain and European countries, provided Ukraine with weapons and opened their gates to millions of refugees. They also sanctioned Putin and his cohorts.
And Israel? By directive of Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked, Israel opened its gates only to Jewish Ukrainians, refusing to take in any gentiles. At the same time, Russian government and oligarch aircraft continue to take off and land at Ben-Gurion Airport as ever.
Only a few weeks later, under pressure from the public opinion, a handful of journalists and human rights activists, and a rare deviation by Lapid from the monolithic diplomatic brass approach, did Israel consent to establishing a field hospital on the Polish-Ukrainian border and by providing Ukrainian rescue teams with protective vests and helmets, provided that these were not used by the Ukrainian military, police or any security forces.
Despite unease by U.S. President Joe Biden, the leaders of the European Union and commanders of NATO at Israel’s conduct, it refuses to change tack. The Lapid-Gantz government remains on the fence, adhering to a dubious neutrality that equates the aggressor with the victim.
This is no surprise. The prism through which Israel examines its positions in the international arena is always a narrow one, revolving solely around security interests (or in other words: Is it good for the Jews?). Even when values and morals appear to factor into foreign policy, there are always ulterior and security motives behind them. Thus, when Israel opened its Golan Heights border to take in wounded from the Syrian War, it did so in part also to recruit agents and develop contacts with opponents of the Assad regime.
Recently I reported that Romania, one of Ukraine’s biggest supporters, is about to purchase an Iron Dome system. Following this report, Ukrainian figures asked me what I thought the chances are of Israel selling or leasing their own military such systems. Slim to none, I replied. From day one, the fear of Putin has fallen upon Israel, and the concern that he might retaliate and limit the Israeli Air Force’s freedom of action over Syria, even though circumstances have changed dramatically.
Putin is drawing closer to Iran and using it to bypass the sanctions imposed on both countries. He is considering selling Iran advanced weapons such as S-400 anti-aircraft missile batteries, which could be used against the IAF. Iran is selling or leasing drones to Russia that are used against Ukraine. This led Zelenskyy to approach Israel with a request to sell him Iron Dome systems and give him intelligence about the capabilities of Iranian drones. Zelenskyy’s reasoning is that if Iran is arming Russia, thus indirectly taking part in the war against his country, why shouldn’t Israel give him at least defense systems against those same drones? But this logic stops at the gates of IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv.
The paradox is that our great enemy, Iran, is expanding its military operations, joining Russia in its war against Ukraine, and Israel remains silent. The irony is that Lapid has announced that Israel, like the rest of the world, does not recognize the annexation of areas Russia has conquered by war. But the rest of the world also does not recognize Israel’s annexation of militarily-seized and long-held territories. These contradictions in Israeli policy could have been solved if the Lapid government had less fear of Putin, who has been shown to be the leader of a power in decline, and shown a bit more courage, and most of all a moral stance based in Jewish history.