Why Kyiv and Jerusalem Must Rethink Their Policy

During a meeting with representatives of the Jewish community of Ukraine, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar recalled that this was his second visit to Kyiv. The first one took place back in 1999 — he was then part of an Israeli delegation accompanying Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who met with President Leonid Kuchma.

This memory might have remained purely sentimental — if not for the context. In fact, this is the first visit of a high-ranking Israeli official to Ukraine since the beginning of the full-scale war in February 2022. Only now, more than two years after the invasion, the Israeli foreign minister is discussing joint strategic actions with his Ukrainian counterpart — against Iran.

But only now. Even though from the first months of the war, when Iranian Shahed drones began appearing in the Ukrainian sky, it was already clear that Ukraine was becoming a testing ground for Iran’s future attacks on Israel.

At the same time — not a word about similar actions against Russia. Yet no analyst doubts that Russia is a strategic ally of Iran. It helps Tehran stay afloat, coordinates military and technical cooperation, supports proxy groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah, which threaten Israel’s very existence. These are precisely the topics the President of Ukraine could have raised had he visited Israel after October 7. But that visit never happened — not only because Kyiv feared the consequences, but also because Jerusalem did not seem particularly eager to receive it.

The paradox is that both countries — Ukraine and Israel — which are effectively facing the same existential threat, still fail to recognize the commonality of their challenges. They continue to operate in a mode of cautious diplomacy, often based not on realities, but on old fears and artificial “red lines.” Jerusalem fears provoking Moscow’s anger — even though Russia has long chosen its side in the Middle Eastern conflict. Kyiv still believes in the importance of maintaining good relations with the Global South — even though it is those very countries whose economic partnerships with Russia help the Kremlin prolong the war.

In reality, neither Ukraine nor Israel has any valid reason to limit their cooperation. The only thing holding them back is poorly constructed foreign policy priorities and the unwillingness to admit: the world has changed. And it will never be the same again.