Prime Minister Naftali Bennett spoke with both Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin within a few hours of each other on Wednesday, his second set of public phone calls with the two leaders since Russia invaded Ukraine last week.
Israel on Tuesday called on Russia to cease its attack on Ukraine from the stage of the UN General Assembly, taking another step closer to the US-led Western position against Moscow after initial apprehension to take sides due to fears of alienating the Kremlin.
Israeli anti-tank weapons systems manufactured in Germany at a factory owned by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems are heading to Ukraine, according to a report by the Hebrew-language Calcalist news outlet.
As western powers have ratcheted up financial, diplomatic and military pressure on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine, Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah have been presenting Moscow’s action as a pertinent warning to those moderate Arab states willing to align with Israel and the US.
Israel’s government estimates that around 10,000 Ukrainians will immigrate to Israel in the coming weeks, government officials told The Jerusalem Post on Saturday.
The embattled Ukrainian president asked Israel’s prime minister to mediate negotiations in Jerusalem between Ukraine and Russia as Russian tanks raced through Kyiv.
Russia denounced Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights at a meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday, hours before it launched its invasion of Ukraine.
Syrian media reported on Wednesday night that the country’s air defense systems had been activated following an Israeli air strike in the Damascus area.
Almost 100 Jewish Ukrainian new immigrants arrived in Israel on Sunday, as Russia stood poised to invade Ukraine in what would be a catastrophic war, the Times of Israel (TOI) reports. Although the new arrivals had been scheduled to immigrate prior to the current Russian threat to Ukraine, the Israeli government stated on Sunday that Ukrainian Jews will always have a home in Israel.
The tension in Ukraine is leading Israel to push its citizens there to leave the country and some Ukrainian Jews are also taking the step of making Israel their home.
Israel fired several missiles at targets in the area of the Quneitra border town in the Syrian Golan Heights after midnight Tuesday, Syrian state media reported.
Israeli officials are worried that the imposition of US sanctions against Russia in response to a possible invasion of Ukraine could harm Israel’s security interests in Syria, according to a report Monday.
Israel on Monday said it successfully tested a new naval air defense system, intercepting a series of threats in what officials called a key layer of protection against Iran and its proxies in the region.
Israel’s Judicial Selection Committee announced Monday the appointment of four new justices to the Supreme Court, including the first-ever Muslim judge to sit in the country’s highest court.
The Biden administration on Monday rejected Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s criticisms of a revived 2015 Iran nuclear deal.
Israel’s prime minister on Sunday criticized an emerging deal over Iran‘s nuclear program, saying it would be weaker than a previous agreement and would create a “more violent, more volatile Middle East.”
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz announced Sunday a plan to ease certain COVID restrictions on travel and education, set to come into effect on March 1.
Israel will not be extending the Green Pass regulations, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett confirmed on Thursday.
The Israeli Navy on Thursday wrapped up its participation in the US Navy’s massive IMX exercise, in which dozens of countries took part, including several with which Israel does not have formal ties.
The leader of Lebanon’s Hezbollah group revealed Wednesday that his militant group has been manufacturing military drones in Lebanon and has the technology to turn thousands of missiles in their possession into precision-guided munitions.