Israeli opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu has expressed readiness to look into supplying Kyiv with defense weapons, marking a shift from his previous support for Russia.
If Netanyahu returns to power in next month’s elections, he will “look into” whether Israel will supply weapons to Ukraine and expects he may be asked to mediate negotiations between Ukraine and Russia, he told USA TODAY in an exclusive interview.
“If I become prime minister, that question (of mediation) presumably will come up again,” he said.
Netanhayu said Russian President Vladimir Putin is “guided by his vision of reconstituting a great Russian realm.”
“And I hope he's having second thoughts about it,” he said. “But I don't want to play psychologist. I want to be in the position of being prime minister, getting all the information, then making decisions on what and if we do anything in this conflict beyond what has been done so far.”
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid warned that military collaboration between Russia and Iran in Ukraine poses a global danger.
“We naturally think that relations between Russia and Iran are a serious problem not only for Israel, but also for Ukraine, Europe and the whole world.”
“Iran is a dangerous terrorist state, and the fact that Russia does business with it puts the whole world in danger,” he added in an interview with Russian-language RTVI.
Lapid said it is “absolutely unacceptable” that Tehran has handed Moscow drones used in its attacks.
Senior advisor to the Ukrainian president Mikhail Podolyak slammed on Thursday Israel’s decision not to supply Ukraine with air defense systems.
Podolyak noted his disappointment, and with-it Ukraine's disappointment, in the decision as he told reporters that “Israel chose to be on the wrong side of history.”
