Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday called on Israel to “make a decision” and support Ukraine against Russia, in a speech by videoconference to members of the Knesset, the Israeli parliament. “Ukraine made its choice 80 years ago and we have the Righteous who hid the Jews. It’s time for Israel to make a decision … indifference kills,” Zelensky, who has Jewish origins, said in a speech in Ukrainian translated into Hebrew.
Zelensky, who also praised the mediation efforts by Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Benet (the only leader to have met Putin in Moscow since the war began), evoked World War II and the horror of the Holocaust to demand stronger Support from Israel for Ukraine and avoid Russia’s “final solution.” “Listen to what the Kremlin says, it’s the same words, the same terminology that the Nazis used against you. It is a tragedy,” the president appealed to 112 parliamentarians of the 120 that make up the Knesset. Zelensky has praised mediation efforts by Prime Minister Naftali Benet, the world’s only leader.
The Ukrainian president called on Israeli lawmakers to demand more forceful actions from the government, such as providing military assistance to Ukraine – including ammunition and the effective Iron Dome anti-missile system – and imposing sanctions against Russia, something Israel has not yet done so as not to risk the delicate geostrategic alliance it maintains with the Kremlin in Syria. “Everyone knows that their missile defense systems are the best… and that they can definitely help our people, save the lives of Ukrainians, of Ukrainian Jews,” he said.
“I’m sure you share and feel our pain. Therefore, I cannot explain why at this point we still have to urge countries around the world to help us,” Zelensky said on the twenty-fifth day of war in his country, with the siege in Mariupol as the bloodiest episode. “Indifference kills, the calculation of interest kills. You can navigate between interests, but you can’t navigate between good and evil,” he appealed.
The president also called on Israel to offer entry visas to the millions of Ukrainian refugees, as it so far only allows those with Jewish origin to stay, while reminding parliamentarians that eighty years ago, the Ukrainian people chose to save Jews from the Nazis. “People of Israel, now you also have to choose,” appealed Zelensky, who has repeatedly expressed his desire for the Israeli government to be firmer against Russia.
