Israel is ‘inclined’ to provide more military aid to Ukraine, reports Haaretz
Demonstrators wave a giant Ukrainian national flag during a protest against Russia’s military operation in Ukraine, in front of the Russian embassy in the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv, on February 26, 2022.
Jack Guez | AFP | Getty Images
Officials in Israel are reportedly preparing to send more military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine.
Among the items being considered are “defensive systems that protect troops on the ground, personal combat gear and warning systems,” according to the leading Israeli newspaper Haaretz.
The discussions come as Israel faces growing pressure from the U.S. and the European Union to take a firmer stance on Russia’s brutal invasion, which is now in its third month.
Notably, the talks also coincide with the rapid deterioration in recent days of Israel’s diplomatic relations with Russia.
The breakdown began when Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov tried to defend Russia’s claim that it is “de-Nazifying” Ukraine — a country whose president is Jewish — by saying that “the biggest antisemites were Jewish,” including “Hitler.”
The remarks infuriated officials in Jerusalem. But instead of backing away from Lavrov’s comments, Russia’s Foreign Ministry doubled down on Tuesday, accusing Israel of supporting a “neo-Nazi regime” in Kyiv.
Despite the breakdown in relations between Moscow and Jerusalem, Haaretz reported that as of Tuesday, Israel was not yet ready to provide its most sophisticated and lethal weapons systems to Ukraine.
— Christina Wilkie
Portraits of war: Photos from Russia’s war and its impact on Ukrainians
Lyubov Lenko, 61, stands at the yard of her house that according to her was destroyed by shelling, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine in Budy, Chernihiv region, Ukraine May 3, 2022.
Zohra Bensemra | Reuters
Inna, 53, cries inside her burnt house on April 25, 2022 in Ozera, Ukraine. The towns around Kyiv are continuing a long road to what they hope is recovery, following weeks of brutal war as Russia made its failed bid to take Ukraine’s capital.
Alexey Furman | Getty Images
Residents react as they are evacuated from a village retaken by Ukrainian forces, next to a frontline, amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, near Kharkiv, Ukraine, May 2, 2022.
Ricardo Moraes | Reuters
Klavidia, 91, is carried on an improvised stretcher as she boards a train, fleeing the war in Severodonetsk at a train station in Pokrovsk, Ukraine, Monday, April 25, 2022.
Leo Correa | AP
Andrii Kihitov is comforted by a mourner following the funeral of his son, 21 year-old Yegor Kihitov, on April 26, 2022 in Lviv, Ukraine.
Leon Neal | Getty Images
Children depict a Soviet monument to a friendship between Ukrainian and Russian nations after its demolition, amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, in central Kyiv, Ukraine April 26, 2022.
Gleb Garanich | Reuters
— Amanda Macias and Adam Jeffery
Biden pushes Congress to pass $33 billion Ukraine aid package after touring Javelin production line
RT: Joe Biden travels to Alabama and tours a Lockheed Martin weapons factory May 3, 2022.
Reuters
President Joe Biden called on Congress to quickly pass $33 billion in additional U.S. assistance to Ukraine, as the war-weary country approaches its 10th week of fighting off a Russian invasion.
“I urge the Congress to pass this funding quickly to help Ukraine continue to succeed against Russian aggression, just as they did when they won the battle of Kyiv and to make sure the United States and our allies can replenish our own stock of weapons to replace what we’ve sent to Ukraine,” Biden said.
“This fight is not going to be cheap, but caving to aggression would even be more costly,” added Biden, flanked by Javelin missiles at a Lockheed Martin facility in southern Alabama.
Last month, Biden requested roughly $13 billion more in funding from Congress after exhausting his presidential drawdown authority.
Biden’s latest military aid package of $800 million was announced…
Read More: Russia-Ukraine war updates for May 4, 2022