Israel has made a strategic decision to provide assistance to Ukraine, but it has to exercise caution when providing military assistance, Israel’s Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Ukraine Mikhail Brodsky said in an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
“Israel, unfortunately, is located in a dysfunctional region. It is such a powder keg on top of which Israel sits. The security threats to Israel, the threats to the lives of both Israeli soldiers and Israeli citizens are colossal. Ukraine today is facing a very powerful adversary, a superpower, from Israel in this sense, the situation is different, the threats are different, but nevertheless, this is also a serious war, a war on terror, which requires maximum resources, maximum mobilization of society.For these reasons, and because of the sensitive relationship that we have with Russia, we We think first of all about our own interests and are forced to exercise caution,” he said.
“This does not mean that we do not help Ukraine. From the first day we made a strategic decision to provide the maximum assistance to Ukraine that we can afford. Without crossing the “red lines” and without endangering our national interests. Without endangering the lives of ordinary Israelis “, – note the diplomat.
Brodsky noted “hundreds of tons of humanitarian aid that we supplied – medicine, food, fresh water, generators, water desalination plants. This is a field hospital, which is located in the Lviv region, during the stay of Israeli doctors there they provided assistance to 6 thousand Ukrainians – refugees and local residents.
In addition, he recalled “dozens of people who were taken to Israel for treatment. These are children from the Okhmatdet hospital with oncological diseases. These are patients who were in the Israeli field hospital, whom it was then decided to transfer to Israel and continue treatment there” .
According to Brodsky, “the healthcare sector is an area in which Israel should actively help Ukraine after the war, too. It will be necessary to restore the entire infrastructure, including healthcare. I think it will be right that Israel will contribute to the creation of a new, modern system healthcare in Ukraine”.
