JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Friday and offered humanitarian aid, his office said, while an Israeli report said Zelenskiy asked for Israeli mediation with Russia.
“Prime Minister Bennett reiterated his hope for a speedy end to the fighting, and said that he stands by the people of Ukraine in these difficult days,” Bennett’s statement said.
Israel’s public broadcaster Kan said Zelenskiy asked for Israel to mediate ceasefire talks with Russia in Jerusalem. The report, which Kan said was neither confirmed nor denied by Bennett’s office, cited unnamed Israeli and Ukrainian sources.
While calling for a peaceful solution in Ukraine, Israel has been cautious about openly criticising Russia, a major player in the conflict in neighbouring Syria. It has offered shelter to members of Ukraine’s Jewish community caught up in the fighting.
Israel, whose main ally is the United States, condemned the Russian invasion on Thursday as “a serious violation of international order” and has since remained largely muted on Moscow’s actions.
The Israeli ambassador in Moscow was summoned for talks, the Russian embassy to Israel said on Friday.
“The hope was expressed that Israel would treat with due understanding the reasons that prompted the Russian leadership to decide to conduct a special military operation to protect civilians in Donbass, demilitarize and denazify Ukraine,” the embassy said.
(Reporting by Henriette Chacar and Maayan Lubell; Editing by James Mackenzie and Alistair Bell)
