NEWS DESK | Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has arrived in Israel for an official visit and is expected to meet with President Reuven Rivlin, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Speaker of Parliament Yuli Edelstein. Two years ago, Ukraine voted in favor of an anti-settlement resolution in the UN Security Council. Now, the Ukranian president may even make a stop at the Western Wall. Our Ellie Hochenberg has the story.
Story:
The Ukrainian president is expected to arrive in Israel on Monday, while Jerusalem is still working on stabilizing relations with Moscow.
President Petro Poroshenko will return to Israel after three years for a three day visit, and will sign a free trade zone agreement, set to boost the economic cooperation between the two countries.
But hovering above is the diplomatic restraint keeping Kiev and Jerusalem apart — Moscow.
'I very much appreciate the excellent direct connection, without intermediaries, between myself and the Russian President. It is very important for the national security of the State of Israel,' Prime Minister Netanyahu stated.
Indeed, the importance of Russia for Israel somewhat undermined the potential of ties with the Ukraine.
In a 2016 interview with i24NEWS, Ukraine's ambassador told contributor Lilly Galili that the Israeli reaction — or lack thereof — to the Crimea crisis was 'ungrateful.'
'Israel has kept silent on the Russia-Ukraine conflict, while Ukraine was extremely amicable towards Israel on difficult issues like the UN vote endorsing the Goldstone report that investigated Operation Cast Lead in Gaza in 2009... Our own decisions (regarding Israel) in the future will be based on an assessment of the whole picture,' Ukraine's Ambassador to Israel Hennadii Nadolenko said.
Israel has long been walking a fine-line when it comes to its relations with Russia. This was not any less significant before, but definitely after Moscow blamed Jerusalem for the mistaken downing by the Syrian air defense of a Russian military plane last September.
At the same time, Israel supported a UN General Assembly motion condemning Russia for the Crimea aggression. Ukraine, for its part, voted in favor of the American bid to condemn Hamas.
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