As Russian atrocities mount in Ukraine, Israel must take sides

A protester demonstrates in Tel Aviv on March 12 against the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Nir Elias/Reuters)
A protester demonstrates in Tel Aviv on March 12 against the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Nir Elias/Reuters)

The horrific images emerging from Ukrainian cities and towns such as Bucha, where retreating Russian forces left behind the corpses of slaughtered civilians, have shocked the world. Even more troubling is the realization that these atrocities are widespread and likely to continue for the foreseeable future. Therefore, Israel’s balancing act of maintaining its ties to Russia while offering only tepid support for Ukraine is becoming morally and strategically untenable.

Israel has not joined Western sanctions on Russia. Israel has given humanitarian assistance to Ukraine, but won’t provide military equipment such as air defense systems or even spy software. Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett won’t even use the phrase “war crimes” when referring to Russian war crimes in Ukraine, although his foreign minister finally uttered that phrase this week. Ukraine’s ambassador to Israel walked out of a meeting with Israel’s defense minister Wednesday and accused him of avoiding clear condemnation of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s atrocities.

Israel has two explanations for this semi-neutral stance. Bennett has sought to play an active role in the shuttle diplomacy between Moscow and Kyiv while maintaining Russia’s acquiescence to its attacks on Iranian targets inside Syria. Earlier in the Ukraine war, these justifications seemed more reasonable. But as more and more evidence of Putin’s war crimes spills out, Israel’s explanations have become little more than alibis for inaction.

Many Israeli officials reacted angrily last month when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky scolded the Knesset and compared Russia’s assault in Ukraine to the Holocaust. But one senior Israeli politician — who knows the cruelty of Russian oppression firsthand — told me Israel can and must do more to stop the atrocities and help Ukraine win the war.

“Zelensky is right when saying that this is not just a struggle for the Ukrainians, but a struggle for the entire free world”, Israeli politician and human rights activist Natan Sharansky told me in an interview. “We have to do everything that we can to help them”.

Before he immigrated to Israel in 1986, Sharansky spent nine years imprisoned in a Soviet labor camp for his human rights advocacy. He said the Israeli government’s overly cautious approach was understandable but unwise, because there is too much at stake in Ukraine.

“The threat of Russia to change the basic principles of the free world is so big that we all have to be mobilized against this main strategic threat, even if it means we will have to expend more effort to defend our interests in the Middle East”, he said.

Before he visited Washington last week, Sharansky spoke with Zelensky’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, who imparted to Sharansky a simple message: If the international community gives Ukraine the weapons it needs, Ukraine will win the war more quickly. If not, the war will drag on longer, and there will be more tragic scenes like those we are now seeing in places such as Bucha, Mariupol and Kharkiv.

“To Americans and others who are afraid to provoke Putin into a third world war, I would say that the more determined we are to resist this threat, the less the chance this war will turn into a bigger war”, Sharansky said.

True to the title of his memoir, “Fear No Evil”, Sharansky is urging the Israeli government (along with governments of all free countries) not to succumb to Putin’s scare tactics, which include the perpetual threat of escalation, including the use of nuclear weapons. Putin uses these threats to paralyze his adversaries.

“This constant fear that if we cross this line or that by providing this weapon or that weapon, that will irritate Putin too much and then he will escalate, it’s simply wrong”, he said.

To be sure, the Ukrainian government sees value in Bennett’s attempts to be one of several channels for mediation between Moscow and Kyiv. But that must not become an excuse for Israel to avoid the question of whether it is doing everything in its power to stop ongoing war crimes. And even though Western countries continue to pile sanctions on Russian industries, companies and the oligarchs who run them, Putin shows no signs he is willing to strike a deal and stop his assault.

“I’m sure that the main argument in these negotiations will be given on the battlefield. That’s the only thing that will influence the position of Putin”, Sharansky said. “That’s why the sooner we mobilize all our resources to stop him, the better”.

The United States and some European countries are already supplying massive amounts of weapons to Ukrainian forces, but certain Israeli air defense and intelligence capabilities could make a real difference on the battlefield. Meanwhile, Israel’s reluctance to impose sanctions on Russia undermines the international drive to drain Putin’s coffers and starve his war machine.

The current political turbulence in Israel could open up a chance for a shift in policy — or it could muddle matters further. Regardless, Israel, as the country born out of the Holocaust, has a special responsibility to stand against mass atrocities wherever they occur. As Elie Wiesel said, “We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim”.

Josh Rogin is a columnist for the Global Opinions section of The Washington Post. He writes about foreign policy and national security. Rogin is also a political analyst for CNN. He is the author of the book Chaos Under Heaven: Trump, Xi, and the Battle for the 21st Century.

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