Three-quarters of Jewish citizens of Israel believe that the state should allow Kyiv to acquire Israeli means to protect its citizens from Russian bombardment, according to a survey commissioned by the Ukrainian embassy in Israel. The survey, conducted by the Geocartography Institute for the embassy, revealed that 76% of the Jewish population believes that Jerusalem should give the green light to the purchase of air defense systems. 24% believe such sales should not be approved.
"Rosh Hashanah is approaching, and thousands of pilgrims are expected to come to Uman every year," Ukraine's ambassador to Israel, Yevhen Kornychuk, told Israel Hayom. "All the talk about 'green corridors' is pointless, because we can't guarantee the safety of pilgrims." According to the ambassador, Kyiv is asking Jerusalem for ballistic missile defense systems, not Iron Dome, which will not help against the types of weapons used by Russia. "If Israel is not willing to help protect the citizens of Ukraine, it may want to protect its citizens," he added. So far, Israel has provided Ukraine with humanitarian aid, and at the beginning of the war briefly established a field hospital in the west of the country.
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The survey participants were also asked whether or not Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should visit Ukraine and meet with its president, Volodymyr Zelensky. 55.8 per cent responded positively, and 44.2 per cent thought there was no need for such a visit. Reminder: Israel sent Netanyahu invitations to come to Kyiv and meet with Zelensky twice. Ukraine says Zelenskyy's wife, Olena, also sent such an invitation to Prime Minister Sara Netanyahu's wife when she visited Israel. Netanyahu and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban are the only prime ministers of Western democracies who have not visited Kyiv since the start of the war. Last February, Foreign Minister Eli Cohen visited Kyiv.
Ukrainian Ambassador to Israel, Yevhen Kornychuk, Photo: Gideon Markovich
The survey participants were also asked about Israel's position vis-à-vis the parties to the conflict, and whether it indeed maintains neutrality. 50.3% thought Israel was more supportive of Ukraine, 43.5% thought it was neutral, and 6.2% said it actually supported Russia more. The online survey was conducted this week among 500 Jewish respondents aged 18 and over. Statistical margin of error: 4.8%. In recent days, the Russians have made gains on the battlefield itself near the borders of the Luhansk, Donetsk and Kharkiv regions in northeastern Ukraine.
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