The opposition leader and head of the Israeli Likud Party, Benjamin Netanyahu, said that he will study the possibility of providing Ukraine with weapons if he becomes the next prime minister, in a clear contradiction with previous statements.
If elected as prime minister, Netanyahu also stated in an interview with the publication “USA Today” that he anticipates being able to ask for him to act as a mediator between Russia and Ukraine.
In the interview with the American daily, Netanyahu stated, “It can be presumed that this topic (connected to mediation between Russia and Ukraine) will be discussed again if you become prime minister.
As soon as I accept the role, I’ll consider it.
According to him, he was asked to mediate between Ukraine and Russia when the Russian military operation began, but he left the mission to the then Prime Minister Naftali Bennett.
In the event that he wins the upcoming elections, Netanyahu said he will “look” into whether Israel will arm Ukraine.
This, and the newspaper “Yediot Aharonot” highlighted the recent statements of Netanyahu, as it stated that only a few days ago he expressed “rare support” of the policy of the government of the current Prime Minister Yair Lapid, who refused to provide Ukraine with weapons despite Kyiv’s repeated requests, saying that it is a “balanced” policy.
In light of his concerns about jeopardising Tel Aviv’s strategic ties with Moscow, Netanyahu has previously criticised the actions of the current Israeli government in regard to the Russian military operation in Ukraine. In contrast to Lapid, Netanyahu refrained from “condemning” Russia in light of its military operation.
Netanyahu stated on Wednesday that Iran might become involved if Israel provided Ukraine with weapons in an interview with the American station “MSNBC.”
The issue of the Ukrainian demands from Israel was again raised by providing them with air defense systems, but Tel Aviv refuses to do so for fear of harming her relations with Moscow, and instead was provided with the provision of Kyiv with air warning systems, which is what the latter rejects..
Netanyahu: If you become prime minister, I’ll look for weapons suppliers in Ukraine.
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