Changing its tone after years of frustration over Jerusalem’s stance on the war with Russia, Ukraine is warming to Israel, and looking to it as a model for navigating US pressure to sue for peace with a recalcitrant enemy.

Visiting Jerusalem last week, Deputy Prime Minister Taras Kachka told The Times of Israel that he was satisfied with bilateral ties of late.

Still, a few days later, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu boasted of his relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, sparking a short-lived diplomatic kerfuffle and demonstrating the persisting challenges the relationship continues to navigate.

Kachka was the most senior Ukrainian official to visit Israel since the war broke out. He was leading a delegation to convene the first meeting of the Israel–Ukraine Intergovernmental Economic Commission since 2021.

“It’s a good sign of really good cooperation between our governments,” said Kachka.

Ukraine is looking to expand Israel’s humanitarian support to frontline municipalities and the rehabilitation of soldiers and civilians injured in the war, he said. The two countries are also discussing water and food technology, cooperation energy and cyber protection as well.

Military support is being discussed between the two defense establishments and political leadership, he said.

“We are looking for greater support and we are ready for greater support to Israel as well,” said Kachka.

He indicated that Ukraine would also vote with Israel more in international forums like the United Nations: “We have more and more topics where we have a common understanding. I think that there will be more and more understanding between us in our voting as well.”

While providing humanitarian aid to Ukraine, Jerusalem has pursued a relatively restrained response to the 2022 invasion of Ukraine due to Russia’s widespread military presence in Syria, Israel’s northern bellicose neighbor, and has sought to balance security interests at home and policy abroad while maintaining relations with both Moscow and Kyiv. However, with the fall of the Russia-allied Bashar Assad regime in Syria last year,  a moderate warming of ties between Kyiv and Jerusalem has taken place.

It is now expanding.

Kachka stressed that Israel and Ukraine must work together against the common threat both countries face in Iran.

“Iran supports our enemy and supports aggression,” said Kachka. “That’s why for us it is important to understand how we can counteract together and how we can coordinate our efforts.”

Iran is avowedly committed to Israel’s destruction and backs many of the country’s most strident opponents, including an axis of proxies who attacked the Jewish state repeatedly during the Gaza war. Israel and Iran fought a direct war for nearly two weeks in June, setting back the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program.

Tehran has also provided Moscow with hundreds of exploding drones for use on the battlefield in Ukraine and helped launch their production in Russia, according to Kyiv and Western intelligence. The Iranian drone deliveries, which Moscow and Tehran have denied, have allowed for barrages of long-range drone strikes on Ukraine’s........

© The Times of Israel