Israel–Ukraine relations are foreign relations between Israel and Ukraine. Both countries recognized each other on 11 May 1949 (as the Ukrainian SSR) and established de jure diplomatic relations on 26 December 1991 when Ukraine became independent.From the history of the Ukrainian Embassy Israel has an embassy in Kyiv and Ukraine an embassy in Tel Aviv. There are 30,000 Ukrainians settled in Israel, while Ukraine has a longstanding Jewish community. Ukraine was the first state outside Israel to have had both a Jewish president and prime minister simultaneously.
Ukraine and Israel have had tense relations during the current Russo-Ukrainian War. Israel was neutral on Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014. The Israeli government of Naftali Bennett condemned the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine and sent humanitarian aid. The current government of Benjamin Netanyahu also sent humanitarian aid. However, Israel refused calls to impose sanctions on Russia, and refused to send weapons or missile defense technology directly to Ukraine. At the UN, Ukraine has voted to condemn Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories, and Ukraine recognizes the State of Palestine. Israel joined Russia to vote against a UN resolution affirming Ukraine's territorial integrity. Ukraine acknowledged Israel's right to self-defense but demanded Israel end its war against Gaza and sent humanitarian aid to Gaza.
History
Ukraine rates fourth in the number of people recognized as "Righteous Among the Nations" for saving Jews during the Holocaust, with 2,673 individuals recognized as of December 2024. The Shtundists, an evangelical Protestant denomination which emerged in late 19th century Ukraine, helped hide Jews. Ukrainian Greek Catholic cleric Klymentiy Sheptytsky was recognized as one of the Righteous among the Nations by the State of Israel in 1995.
Between 1941 and 1945, approximately 1.5 million Jews were killed during the Holocaust within the territory of present-day Ukraine.
When Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union as the Ukrainian SSR, it was one of 33 states that voted for separate Jewish and Arab states in Mandatory Palestine during the UN Partition Plan in 1947. The Soviet Union broke off relations with Israel in 1967 after the Six-Day War and restored diplomatic relations in 1991, when Ukraine became independent.
In November 2014, Oleg Vyshniakov, a Ukrainian entrepreneur and public figure, was appointed to Israel's honorary consul in western Ukraine.Appointment of Oleg Vishnikov as Honorary Consul , Website of the Israeli consulate in Ukraine, November 2014 In May 2015 he was inaugurated as honorary consul of Israel in Lviv.Grand opening of the Honorary Israeli Consulate , Website of the Israeli consulate in Ukraine, May 2015
Russo-Ukrainian War
After Russia annexed Crimea in March 2014, Israel did not vote for a UN resolution condemning the annexation. US State Department Spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the US was "surprised that Israel did not join the vast majority of countries that voted to support Ukraine’s territorial integrity". The Israeli government said it did not vote due to a public workers strike. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu later refused to condemn Russia's annexation.
In February 2022, during the buildup to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Yevgen Korniychuk, the Ukrainian Ambassador to Israel, published a Facebook post, accusing Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid of repeating "rhetoric of Russian propaganda." The Israeli Foreign Ministry summoned Korniychuk for an official reprimand.
When Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February 2022, Israeli Foreign Minister Lapid and Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett expressed support for Ukraine, although Bennett did not condemn Russia. Bennett offered humanitarian aid to the Ukrainians and help to Jews who wanted to leave Ukraine. Israel's foreign ministry stated that it respected Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty, but did not mention Russia.
On 25 February 2022, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy requested Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett mediate in the war with Russia, according to the Ukrainian envoy to Israel. On 5 March, Bennett flew to Moscow and held a three-hour meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin about the war in Ukraine, after which Bennett spoke to Zelenskyy by phone. At the Kremlin, Bennett also raised the issue of the Jewish community caught up in the invasion. An unnamed senior Ukrainian official accused Bennett of having "proposed that we surrender", claiming Bennett urged Zelenskyy to "take the offer" of a "peace deal" from Putin. This report was denied by the Israeli Prime Minister's office and a senior adviser to Zelenskyy.
Israel declined to co-sponsor a UN Security Council resolution condemning the Russian invasion; the United States expressed disappointment. Israel later voted in favour of the resolution condemning the invasion.
On 11 March 2022, Ukraine's ambassador to Israel Korniychuk urged Israel to impose sanctions on Russia, take more Ukrainian refugees, and supply defensive weapons. In a speech to Ukraine's parliament on 20 March, President Zelenskyy chastised Israel, asking why it was not sending Ukraine missile defenses or condemning Russia for its invasion. Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid replied that Israel would help Ukraine's people "as much as we can" by continuing to send humanitarian aid. On 5 April, President Zelenskyy asserted that he wanted Ukraine to become a "big Israel with its own face", with members of the armed forces present "in all institutions" of the country, abandoning hopes of becoming "absolutely liberal." On 3 July, Israel lifted its restrictions on the numbers of Ukrainian refugees it would take. Zelenskyy welcomed the decision. An estimated 15,000 Ukrainian refugees had fled to Israel.
On 20 April 2022, Defense Minister Benny Gantz announced Israel would send protective equipment such as flak jackets and helmets to the Ukrainian emergency services, but not to the Ukrainian military.
In October 2022, after a wave of Russian missile strikes, Zelenskyy lambasted Israel for refusing to supply missile defenses. Shortly after, however, he said that relations with Israel were improving as they had begun sharing intelligence about the Iranian drones being used by Russia.
In January 2023, Israel refused a US request to transfer MIM-23 Hawk batteries and anti-ballistic missiles to Ukraine.
In May 2023, an Israeli-made missile alert system began operating in Kyiv. Ukrainian Ambassador to Israel Korniychuk, credited Netanyahu's personal involvement in this process. However, Israel continued to refuse to supply Ukraine with missile defenses. Israel noted the danger posed by Russians capturing an Iron Dome system, which could result in Iran gaining access to it and reverse-engineering the weapons. In October 2023 it was reported that a version of the Tzeva Adom alert system modified for suit Ukraine "would start working in Kyiv soon." This system calculates the time of approach which is then notified to the civilians by a siren which gives a special signal that indicates the amount of time the people have to hide. The system became operational on 24 July 2025.
Israel's refusal to supply weapons to Ukraine (in March 2022 Israel also rejected a Ukrainian request for cyber weaponry, including Pegasus, to be used against Russia) has been criticized by several Israeli politicians from the Liberal wing of the Likud Party who proposed sending Russian-made weapons captured from Hamas and Hezbollah to Ukraine. In January 2025 Ukrainian Ambassador Korniychuk and Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel again discussed the possibility of transferring captured Russian-made weapons to Ukraine. Over 60% of weapons captured by the IDF from Hezbollah are Russian-made.
In February 2025, Israel joined Russia and the United States in voting against a UN General Assembly resolution reaffirming Ukraine's territorial integrity. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar justified the vote by saying it was aimed to "give a chance to the initiative of America to try to end the Russo-Ukrainian War and solve it by peaceful means".
In early 2025, 90 Patriot air defense interceptors were transferred from Israel to Ukraine by the United States. Israeli officials denied they were supplying weapons to Ukraine but had only returned the system to the US. Axios reported Netanyahu had approved their transfer in September 2024 in return for allowing ultra-Orthodox Israelis to make the annual pilgrimage to the city of Uman in Ukraine. In June 2025, the Foreign Ministry of Israel denied providing Patriot air defense systems to Ukraine, contradicting an earlier suggestion by its envoy in Kyiv. In September 2025, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed that Israel had supplied Ukraine with a Patriot air defense battery, which was already installed and operational. Israel officially continued to deny it had supplied Ukraine with any sort of Patriot air defense. It claimed that it had merely returned the Patriot air defense systems to the US after retiring them from service.
In April 2026, Israel allowed a Russian ship carrying 43,500 metric tons of stolen Ukrainian wheat to unload in Haifa, despite protest from Ukraine's government.
In May 2026, Israel's Foreign Ministry and the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial centre objects to Ukrainian military and political leader Andriy Melnyk being given a state burial, on the basis of his WWII collaboration with the Nazis.
Israeli-Palestinian conflict In December 2016, Ukraine (as a non-permanent member of United Nations Security Council) voted in favor of resolution 2334, which condemned Israel's settlement policy in the West Bank. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry considered the resolution balanced since it also urged the Palestinian side to combat terrorism.'US pressured Ukraine to support the UN Security Council resolution on settlements,' Euro-Asian Jewish Congress, 28 December 2016. Ukraine's foreign ministry likened Israel's settlement of the West Bank to the Russian occupation of Crimea. In reaction, Israel cancelled a planned visit of the Ukrainian prime minister.
In November 2022, Ukraine supported a UN resolution that asked the International Court of Justice to investigate Israel's "prolonged occupation, settlement and annexation of Palestinian territory". In response, Israel summoned and admonished the Ukrainian ambassador. Then, in "an apparent act of retaliation", Israel did not support a UN resolution calling on Russia to pay reparations for invading Ukraine.
When Hamas attacked Israel in October 2023, President Zelenskyy offered condolences for the hundreds of civilian deaths and expressed solidarity with Israelis. Al Arabiya noted that Ukraine had been seeking Israeli air defense expertise to stop Russian missiles. Following the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital explosion on 17 October 2023, Ukraine's Foreign Ministry condemned attacks on civilians in Gaza, called on all sides to abide by international humanitarian law, and supported a two-state solution to the conflict.
In June 2024, President Zelenskyy, at the Shangri-La Dialogue, affirmed Ukraine's support for the two-state solution and recognition of the State of Palestine. He called for an end to Israel's war against Gaza, for Israel to respect international law, and emphasized that Ukraine is ready to provide humanitarian aid to Gaza. In July 2024, Ukraine sent 1,000 tons of wheat flour to the Palestinian territories. Ukraine's foreign ministry said the aid would support more than 100,000 Palestinian families for a month. It is part of the 'Grain from Ukraine' initiative to Palestine launched by President Zelenskyy.