‘We see eye to eye on the Iranian threat,’ says Israeli outgoing ambassador to Ukraine in special interview

Israel's outgoing ambassador to Ukraine, Michael Brodsky, sat down with i24NEWS' Ariel Oseran to discuss his tenure during the war. Brodsky's term began in June 2021 and has included the entirety of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Israel received significant criticism for not supplying more material support to Ukraine in the initial stages of the war. Brodksy defended Israel's record, saying, "We provided very significant humanitarian assistance." He also said Israel was active on the diplomatic front: "At the beginning of the war, there was an attempt by the prime minister at the time, Naftali Bennett, to become a mediator, even going to Moscow."

When asked if Russia had played a part in not intervening, the ambassador said: "The Russians were very clear that there would be consequences on the military cooperation between Israel and Ukraine."

Brodsky said he found it challenging to relay Israel's complex position to Kyiv, but remained confident that the message had gotten through. However, he noted that things changed after October 7, as many in Ukraine understood the precarious position Israel was in. "I believe that many questions on the Ukrainian side have also disappeared after October 7."

"I think they realize much better what sort of challenges we are facing here, but they understand that our ability to assist Ukraine, in the military sphere, is very limited."

Bordsky says that in his view Ukraine and Israel are very similar both before and after the war. "There are so many similarities between the two countries. Not only in terms of our positioning and facing powerful enemies, but also in terms of our internal political culture."

Since the war broke out, Ukraine and Israel have realized they have the same enemies in the Russo-Iranian axis, Brodsky says. "We see eye to eye on the Iranian threat. Iran is clearly our enemy, but it's clearly an enemy for Ukraine as well."

The ambassador highlighted the newfound cooperation as one of the major successes of his term: "We started cooperating on the Iranian issue. I cannot talk in detail about the cooperation."

"But together we managed to, with the Ukrainians, to bring about a decision by the Ukrainian government to declare the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization," Brodsky added.

In Brodsky's view, Ukraine's move against the IRGC encouraged other European states to follow suit and designate the IRGC as a terrorist organization. "The whole world learned a lot from Ukraine that you can stand against a very serious enemy, you can even win."

Brodsky noted that there's a lot Israel could learn from Ukraine. "Ukraine has gained a huge experience in dealing with Iranian weapons, especially the drones."

"This is something that we started learning from the Ukrainians because we are facing the same threat at the moment. But Ukraine is probably the only country which has real experience in dealing with drones. They managed to develop very efficient systems."

When asked if there was anything still being learned from Ukraine, Brodsky stayed cautious, "We are in the process. I cannot tell you if we have adopted these lessons already, but we have technologies of our own."

He also made clear that Ukraine was currently in a strong position globally, "I know that quite many countries in the Middle East have turned to the Ukrainian government and asked for assistance in protecting their critical infrastructure and their population from the Iranian missiles and drones."

"I think the Ukrainians have realized that, for a change, they have cards. They have a clear asset which they managed to develop and which is very important for many countries in the world, especially the Gulf countries, which were attacked by Iran."

Although he cautioned that it's not all about technology, "It's about the experience. And there is no other country which has such an experience as the Ukrainians. And this field obviously changes quite rapidly."

Brodsky still doesn't see any clear victory for Ukraine, but remains hopeful for the future, "I believe Ukraine managed and will manage to survive as an independent and free country."