Russian military invasion: what role can Israel play in Ukraine?

Vincent Hervouet 12:11 p.m., March 07, 2022

EDITORIAL

Surprise mediation by the Israeli Prime Minister in the Ukrainian conflict.

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett launched mediation in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine on Saturday with visits to Moscow and then Berlin and a telephone conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Until now, he had not joined the concert of international condemnations of the Russian invasion of Ukraine launched on February 24, underlining the strong ties that unite Israel to Moscow and Kiev.

International columnist Vincent Hervouët delivers his analysis of Israel's role in this conflict.

Bennett the tightrope walker

"The secret had been well kept and it is not known which was more unexpected, whether Naftali Bennett went to the Kremlin or whether he went there on Saturday, the Sabbath day. The Israeli Prime Minister is an observant Jew, but as he It's about saving lives, he allowed himself to take the plane that day. He even saw a moral obligation: Israel has good relations with Russia, from where 20% of Israelis and foreigners come from. even better with Ukraine where there is still a large community.

>> Find the international editorial every morning at 7:17 a.m. on Europe 1 as well as in replay and podcast here

Israel has condemned the invasion at the UN, but refuses to join the sanctions.

Bennett is careful not to denounce the offensive and leaves his Minister of Foreign Affairs to be indignant in his place.

It is a balancing act.

All against America but not against Russia.

One could say a sovereign position, dictated by the national interest: Israel is waging war on Iran in Syria and it needs the tacit agreement of the Russians who are deployed there in force. 

The Prime Minister therefore spent three hours with Putin.

And then he had three times Volodymyr Zelensky on the line.

We don't really know what they said to each other.

It's prudent, it's encouraging.

This Bennett is flawless.

He received the blessing of all the actors.

But he remains modest: he will continue the mediation even if he has little hope.

It's normal, he's Israeli.

War and peace, he knows.

He is the first in this case to take the tragedy seriously without encouraging the emotion that upsets public opinion.

The emotion is the sympathy aroused by the Ukrainian resistance and the anguish aroused by the war

War calls for composure.

Take Volodymyr Zelensky.

Everywhere celebrated as a new Churchill, they have heaps in common.

Churchill liked to put on a show.

Zelensky too, it's even his job.

Churchill spent his life writing improvised speeches.

He knew how to galvanize the British by promising them sweat and tears.

Zelensky carefully prepares improvised videos that make Ukraine's heart beat faster.

But there is a big difference between the two men.

READ ALSO

- War in Ukraine: in Kiev, the inhabitants leave behind their old life

Churchill suffered defeat after defeat in Afghanistan, at the Dardanelles, before standing up to Hitler.

He knew what a cannon is capable of.

He knew the difference between wanting and being able.

While Zelensky does stand up demanding the impossible.

He first wanted to join NATO, which would have meant World War III.

He wants to join the EU right away, and that's the same.

He wants the ban on overflights of Ukraine, and who would enforce it if not the West?

He calls for fighter planes...

Europe ready to deliver Migs to Polish, Bulgarian and Slovak armies

The European high representative, Josep Borrell says that Europe is ready to deliver Migs in service in the Polish, Bulgarian or Slovak armies.

None of these countries wants to give Russia the pretext to declare war on it.

One wonders if Josep Borrell is aware that the showdown with Russia is not a battle of self-esteem as he has lived all his life as a politician?

Is he ready to take a chestnut in the face, to lose his teeth, an eye, a son?

We understand Zelensky's bitterness, his anguish, his loneliness.

He blames his neighbors for abandoning him.

It is unfair, given the reception of refugees, the military aid, the harshness of the sanctions.

One comes to wonder if anyone speaks a language of truth to the Ukrainian president.

Did anyone warn him about his American advisers before they left?

Apart from Naftali Bennett the prudent who knows war, the sacrifices it imposes, is there an adult in the room to wrest from the Russians and the Ukrainians a compromise, a truce, as long as it takes is there still time?"