By Janet Ekstract
ISTANBUL- The war waged on Ukraine by Russian President Vladimir Putin is a political catch-22. What is painfully evident is that the reason certain countries refuse to put troops in Ukraine or refuse to send them weapons is because either they fear a perceived ‘World War III’ between America and NATO or as in the case of Israel – its vested interest in Russia has been the overriding factor in Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s repeated refusal to send advanced military defensive weaponry to Ukraine. Ukraine’s Lviv Oblast Governor Maksym Kozytskyy who also heads the province’s military administration, urged Israel to join other nations in providing Ukraine with arms, especially the Iron Dome system which Kozytskky said will allow Ukraine to prevail in the air over the Russian military. Despite Ukraine’s President Zelensky’s appeal to Israel as well, the Israeli government has so far not responded, Kozytskyy told The Times of Israel. As Kozytskyy commented to The Times of Israel: “We don’t need the support, but we need the weapons to protect ourselves.” Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett who views maintaining ties with Moscow as a strategic interest, has refused repeated requests by Zelensky and his government for advanced military weapons assistance.
Meanwhile, the U.S. and Poland are discussing Poland transferring military weapons to Ukraine and the U.S. continues to sanction major Russian oligarchs including seizing their yachts and other possessions. Despite all the outward support and sanctions, Putin is defiant in his position and said that any proposed no-fly zone will be considered by him to be a declaration of war by such countries that impose the no-fly zone which Zelensky has urged the West to implement. More than 1.3 million Ukrainians have fled their country into neighboring nations, primarily Poland with others fleeing to Romania and Germany. It has gotten to the point where now many Moldovans have made the decision to leave their country in fear that Putin’s warmongering will spill across their border as well.
That Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine is a political catch-22 is obvious but the fact that the U.S. and its NATO allies refuse to get directly involved with troops on the ground will ultimately spell disaster for the West. As Putin mercilessly directs a ruthless assault on Ukraine, repeated declarations by U.S. President Joe Biden and NATO UN Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg are falling on deaf ears. Though global mass protests unequivocally support Ukraine, the fact is as a former Navy Seal interviewed by CNN International on Saturday, said that Ukraine’s current military is no match for Russian firepower. What is the most ironic in this political catch-22 is Israel’s stance: Zelensky is Jewish and Israel only has to recall the horrors of the Holocaust which it constantly touts as a justification for the way it treats the Palestinians – yet Israel clearly values its interests with Russia over Putin’s hellbent annihilation of the Ukrainian people and its nation.
