A Ukrainian delegation went to Israel to buy weapons from private Israeli businesses, following the government’s refusal to provide military assistance to Kyiv, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz revealed on Wednesday.
“The delegation recently discussed ways to conduct arms deals outside official state-to-state channels in a meeting with a former senior Israel Defense Forces officer, who now owns a security consultancy firm,” Haaretz reported.
Given Israel's official refusal to provide military assistance to Ukraine, a Ukrainian delegation has been looking into buying weapons from private Israeli businesspeoplehttps://t.co/yRBs2wJZfo
— Haaretz.com (@haaretzcom) April 6, 2022
According to the Israeli newspaper, members of the Ukrainian delegation include Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s senior aide Serhiy Shefir and Ukrainian parliamentarian Olha Vasylevska-Smahliuk.
The delegation reportedly met last week with Israeli Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid.
Following an initial position of supposed ‘neutrality’, Israel is progressively shifting its attitude towards the Russia-Ukraine conflict, openly condemning Russia for alleged ‘war crimes’ in Ukraine.
On Monday, Israeli Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz visited a field hospital set up by Israel in Ukraine and blasted Russia over the “war crimes it is committing in Ukraine.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has declared on Tuesday that his country will look to Israel for inspiration concerning its future security arrangements, Russia Today reported.
Read more through https://t.co/FeUjIfK4Bv pic.twitter.com/n2WdlG1OhG
— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) April 6, 2022
Horowitz’s remarks follow similar comments by the Israeli Foreign Minister, who also condemned Russia’s actions in a Tweet on Sunday.
“It is impossible to remain indifferent in the face of the horrific images from the city of Bucha near Kyiv, from after the Russian army left,” Lapid tweeted, adding that “intentionally harming a civilian population is a war crime and I strongly condemn it.”
(The Palestine Chronicle)
