Zelensky says ‘Israel made a mistake’ in holding back military support for Ukraine
In interview, president says he thinks Jerusalem is ‘afraid of Putin,’ fears Ukraine will lose war if Trump cuts military funding
Israel made an error in not providing Ukraine with military support after Russia invaded the country in 2022, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview on Monday.
“I think that Israel made a mistake” on a political level, the Ukrainian leader told Fox News, noting that Ukraine’s connection with Israeli society had always been strong.
Zelensky said that when Russia invaded in 2022, he “asked Israel’s leaders to help us and support, but they have been afraid of [Russian President Vladimir] Putin.”
Zelensky said he’d asked Western leaders to “help me with Israel.”
Israel condemned Russia’s invasion and provided limited support to Ukraine, including humanitarian aid and an aerial warning system, but not weaponry. Earlier this year, the Financial Times reported the United States, Israel, and Ukraine were in talks to provide Kyiv with up to eight Patriot missile air defense systems currently owned and used by Israel.
Overall, Jerusalem produced a relatively restrained response to the invasion due to Russia’s widespread military presence in Syria, Israel’s northern and bellicose neighbor, and the need to balance security interests at home and policy abroad while maintaining relations with both Moscow and Kyiv.
"I think that Israel made a mistake," Ukrainian President Zelenskyy tells me about the lack of military aid supplied to his country.
Earlier in the interview, Zelenskyy acknowledged that Israeli strikes against Iranian missile production facilities were a good thing for… pic.twitter.com/PkganLnSNs
— Trey Yingst (@TreyYingst) November 20, 2024
On the other hand, Russia has regularly criticized Israel since the October 7 Hamas invasion and slaughter in southern Israel, including at the UN Security Council, and has hosted Hamas leaders, in a development widely seen as an extension of its increasingly friendly ties with Iran.
Israel has also reportedly refused a Ukrainian offer to collaborate on countering Iran-made drones.
Israel has struggled to deal with the drone threat throughout the current war. It was Hamas drones that first crossed from Gaza on the morning of October 7, 2023, to disable electronic monitoring systems and pave the way for the massive cross-border onslaught. Drones launched by Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon and Houthi rebels in Yemen have also managed to cause fatalities after evading Israel’s air defenses.
Ukraine cannot fight on its own, Zelensky says
Zelensky also told Fox Monday that he feared his country would lose its war against Russia if the US cuts military funding to Kyiv.
“We will fight. We have our production, but it’s not enough to prevail. And I think it’s not enough to survive,” he continued.
US President-elect Donald Trump is a vocal skeptic of the billions that the administration of US President Joe Biden has given to Ukraine since the Russian invasion began in 2022.
Trump has repeatedly promised to end the war quickly but has not provided details on how he would do so.
This week his allies voiced vehement criticism of Biden’s decision to let Ukraine use US-supplied long-range missiles for attacks inside Russia, accusing him of a dangerous escalation.
Zelensky told Fox that “unity” between Ukraine and the US was “most important.”
Trump, he said, could influence Putin to end the war, “because he is much… stronger than Putin.”
Putin “can be willing and end this war, but it also depends on the United States of America much more. Putin is weaker than the United States of America,” he said.
With Russia gaining ground and increasing talk of negotiations, Ukraine is wary of being at a disadvantage when it comes to hashing out a peace settlement.
