By KYIV. Nov 2 (Interfax-Ukraine) – There are certain prerequisites for Israel’s position on arms supplies to Ukraine to change, Ukrainian Ambassador to Israel Yevhen Korniychuk said.
"I remind you that in the election campaign Netanyahu said that he would consider revising Israel’s policy on the supply of weapons to Ukraine. Of course, this does not mean anything concrete in political language, but there are certain prerequisites for this position to change. And I want to believe that together we will be able to change it," Korniychuk told Interfax-Ukraine on Wednesday.
The Ambassador noted that as of 15:00, 97% of votes were counted in Israel, but without taking into account half a million so-called open votes, as well as votes in foreign jurisdictions.
"In any case, it is clear that the right bloc, that is, Netanyahu and his partners are passing. Depending on whether small parties pass or not, they will receive up to 65 mandates out of 120. This is not a small figure, because they will definitely be given the right to form a coalition, even if it is 61 votes. The more votes, the less turbulence of the new government will be," Korniychuk explained.
He added that the final results of the elections in Israel will be known only after the weekend.
"When they form a government, then we will say that we are working with this government and will start moving in the areas that interest us, first of all, of course, military-technical cooperation. And here something is already being done. How actively this will continue with the Netanyahu government, if he manages to form it, we will see when the Netanyahu government is formed," Korniychuk said.
The diplomat assured that Ukraine will work with any political force that will be elected in a lawful and legal way.
"Accordingly, if the former prime minister returns to power, he has established relations with our president, with the leadership of Ukraine, he has visited us many times, he helped Ukraine. Let me remind you that at the beginning of 2021, we received 20 million Pfizer vaccines from New York thanks to Netanyahu’s efforts. He secured a telephone conversation between our president and the CEO of Pfizer, and we received the contract within two weeks, in January 2021. That is, there were positive results of our cooperation," Korniychuk stressed.
He also expressed confidence that Netanyahu will reconsider his relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin, as he is toxic to most political leaders.
"Many opponents have concerns about his close contacts with the President of the Russian Federation. But it seems to me that it is not worth paying attention to this, because I am sure that today Netanyahu will reconsider his relations with Putin, since he is toxic to most political leaders, especially the leaders of democratic countries of the world, and we consider Israel to be just such a country," the ambassador said.
Korniychuk stressed that Iran’s involvement in the war in Ukraine is a trigger for Israel, and it will be possible to build bilateral relations with Israel further.
"It is difficult to say what position he will take regarding the Russian Federation now. Of course, first of all, he will set himself tasks related to the interests of the State of Israel, and here we should already play the usual game with Israel, which we, in fact, are playing. When we have the same interests, we do well together. For example, Iran’s involvement in the war in Ukraine is a trigger for Israel, and of course, it will be possible to build further bilateral relations with Israel on this," the Ukrainian ambassador said.
