Kyiv Registers Displeasure Over Israeli Foreign Minister’s Call With Russia’s Lavrov

By Zalman Ahnsaf

YERUSHALAYIM — Ukraine’s ambassador to Israel expressed displeasure about the new Israeli foreign minister’s phone call with his Russian counterpart on Tuesday.

Ambassador Yevgen Korniychuk told The Times of Israel that Foreign Minister Eli Cohen’s call with Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov represents a change in Israeli policy.

“Israel’s minister of foreign affairs hasn’t spoken to Lavrov since the war started,” he said, referring to the fact that former Prime Minister Yair Lapid did not speak with Lavrov and had condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

However, Israeli foreign ministry officials said the call did not indicate any policy change regarding the war, and that Cohen relayed to Lavrov a message from U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, according to Ynet.

Korniychuk, who has been sharply critical of Israel’s policy due to its refusal to supply Kyiv with arms, also complained on Tuesday of the silence on recent Russian attacks.

 “Unfortunately, we are getting no condemnation of the mass shelling of our civilians in recent months,” he said. “Israel is unique in terms of our partners. It remains silent.”

The Ukrainian envoy emphasized that neither Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba nor Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky have asked to speak with Cohen.

In the U.S., Republican Sen. Lindsay Graham was also critical of remarks made by Cohen ahead of the Lavrov call, in which he said that while Israel’s policy regarding Ukraine was undergoing review by the new government, “one thing for certain is that we will talk less about it in public.”

Graham tweeted that “the idea that Israel should speak less about Russia’s criminal invasion of Ukraine is a bit unnerving.

“I hope Mr. Cohen understands that when he speaks to Russia’s Lavrov, he’s speaking to a representative of a war criminal regime that commits war crimes on an industrial scale every day.”