U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid on Monday. According to the State Department’s readout of the conversation, they discussed “shared challenges, in the face of potential Russian aggression against Ukraine.”
It’s not clear what, if anything, Blinken is hoping for from Israel. But two days later, Israeli radio, quoting Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, reported that Ukraine is seeking to buy Israeli cyber- and air-defense systems. That may be what Blinken had in mind, but taking a side in this conflict is very clearly not in Israel's national interest.
Certainly, Israel should be rooting for the United States in this dispute. The U.S. is, after all, Israel's indispensable ally. And the unprovoked invasion of a neighboring country and the potential mass loss of life is something no democracy could want to see.
