Israeli Ambassador to Georgia highlights “delicate balance” country had to strike amid Ukraine war

Ran Gidor, the Israeli Ambassador to Georgia, on Tuesday said his country had found itself in the need to strike a “delicate balance” in the light of the ongoing war in Ukraine, citing “hundreds of thousands” of Jews living in both Russia and Ukraine, and the Russian military presence in Syria.

This is no secret - the Prime Minister of Israel has said that we have to maintain a delicate balance in the light of the ongoing war in Ukraine. Why? Firstly because there are still hundreds of thousands of Jews living in both Russia and Ukraine”, Gidor said in an interview with Interpressnews.

The Israeli diplomat underlined that as a “Jewish state”, Israel had a “responsibility to take care” of the well-being of Russian and Ukrainian Jews, and to be able to do so required having “good relations” with both Russian and Ukrainian Governments.

Gidor stressed the Israeli Government had condemned Russia's “aggressive invasion” of Ukraine, pointing out that his country was “doing a lot” to help Ukraine, including in terms of sanctions, but added it was not something that could be discussed “publicly” with the media.

He noted that Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett had informed his Georgian counterpart Irakli Garibashvili about Israel’s mediation and tangible support for Ukraine, as well as on the country joining the international sanctions on Russia. 

We are doing a lot, but we can not discuss it in public, because this is a very sensitive issue and may become a matter of dispute in court”, the Israeli Ambassador added.

The Ambassador also explained his Government’s “delicate balance” on the backdrop of the Russian invasion of Ukraine was also due to the ongoing civil war in neighbouring Syria.

We are very concerned about the situation in Syria, because Syria is one of our main enemies. Since the Russian Air Force controls Syrian airspace, we are, in fact, bordering Russia. The Israeli-Syrian border is de facto the Israeli-Russian border”, he noted.

We must be able to act effectively in Syria, especially in Syrian airspace, to stop the Iranians from handing over weapons to Hezbollah in Lebanon, which will endanger the people of Israel”, he concluded in his comments.