Israel must live with choices on helping Ukraine, Zelenskiy tells Knesset
March 20, 2022
LVIV, Ukraine (Reuters) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday that Israel would have to live with the choices it makes on whether to help protect Ukraine against the Russian invasion, addressing the Knesset via video link.
Drawing comparisons between the Russian offensive and the “final solution” – the plan by Nazi Germany to exterminate Jews – Zelenskiy questioned Israel’s reluctance to sell the Iron Dome defence system to Ukraine.
“Everybody knows that your missile defence systems are the best… and that you can definitely help our people, save the lives of Ukrainians, of Ukrainian Jews,” he said.
“We can ask why we can’t receive weapons from you, why Israel has not imposed powerful sanctions on Russia or is not putting pressure on Russian business. Either way, the choice is yours to make, brothers and sisters, and you must then live with your answer, the people of Israel.”
Russia denies targeting civilians in what it calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine.
(Reporting by Pavel Polityuk and Max Hunder; writing by Matthias Williams, editing by Alexander Smith)