Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has asked members of his cabinet to “keep a low profile” on the war in Ukraine, Channel 12 news reports.
“Israel is not the issue right now,” Bennett told ministers in an expanded security cabinet meeting Sunday night, according to the report.
Israel is one of the few countries that maintains relatively warm relations with both Ukraine, a fellow Western democracy, as well as Russia, which controls the airspace over Syria.
Jerusalem has relied on Moscow’s tacit approval for use of that airspace to carry out airstrikes against Iranian proxies just beyond its northern border.
Bennett spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin Sunday, after which the Russian embassy in Israel reiterated its position to not block Israeli activities over Syria.
“Israel’s interest is to be quiet,” Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked, who is closely aligned with Bennett, told the meeting, according to the channel.
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From the Liveblog of
Sunday, February 27, 2022
