Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky advised fellow world leaders on Wednesday to visit Israel in a show of unity following the ongoing wave of terrorist attacks by the genocidal Islamist terror group Hamas.
Zelensky – speaking to reporters during a visit to Brussels, Belgium, to meet with NATO leaders – recalled the parade of high-profile visitors to Kyiv in the early days of the full-scale Russian invasion of his country, which began in February 2022 and continues to this day.
Zelensky thanked the visitors and said that such displays of solidarity “can help save your nation.”
Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky and Prime Minister Alexander De Croo during a press conference following a meeting between the Prime Minister and Ukrainian President, in Brussels, Wednesday 11 October 2023. Belgium’s support for Ukraine and the role that Belgium will play within the F-16 coalition will be at the agenda. (Eric Lalmand / Pool / Photo News via Getty Images)
Zelensky’s remarks on the bloodshed at the hands of Hamas in Israel are of particular note given his status as one of the world’s only Jewish heads of government outside of Israel. Zelensky lost family in the Holocaust and has publicly honored his grandfather for fighting Nazi Germany as part of the Soviet military in World War II.
“I remember the first days of our full-scale war. It began [with] terroristic attacks from Belarus by missiles, and then [the] Russian army, and – you know – that was the biggest tragedy, what we had,” Zelensky said on Wednesday. “And so many times – people, so many deaths – and it was very important not to be alone.”
“My recommendation – if I can use this word – my recommendation for the leaders of the world … go to Israel,” Zelensky urged, adding that doing so can “help to save your nation, people, save lives.”
“So my recommendation to the leaders [is] to go to Israel and, I think, to support people. Just people, I’m not speaking about any institutions,” he continued. “Just to support people who have been under terrorist attacks, people who are dying now. It’s very important. Unity is more important than to be alone is more strong. It’s very important.”
On Israel. I I recall the early days of Russia’s full-scale war on Ukraine. This was the worst tragedy, with many people killed. It was critical not to feel alone. Feeling supported can help you save your country, people, and life.
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) October 11, 2023
This is why I urge all leaders to visit Israel… pic.twitter.com/QGgAxMabjB
Zelensky added that strong displays of support from the international community could help deter a “new wave of aggression.”
Zelensky’s remarks are in response to an unprecedented series of gruesome attacks on Israeli civilians by Hamas that began on Saturday, the Jewish holiday of Shemini Atzeret, the final day of the annual High Holy Day cycle. Hamas jihadists overran residential communities, killing Israeli families door-to-door and abducting a still unknown number of civilians. In some cases, the terrorists killed civilians, including infants and the elderly, and uploaded images of their dead bodies to social media. Some of those images showed the terrorists spitting on, beating, and otherwise desecrating dead bodies. Hamas terrorists have threatened to kill captives on internet livestreams.
Israeli authorities have found communities littered with dead bodies, including the bodies of babies missing their heads. Authorities found 260 bodies at the site of a music festival taking place on Saturday.
As of Wednesday, the Israeli government has confirmed the death toll of the carnage Hamas has branded the “al-Aqsa flood” to be over 1,200 people, the vast majority civilians. Over 3,000 survivors were injured.
Zelensky initially responded to the attacks on Saturday by supporting any action Israel needed to take to end the terrorist threat.
“Israel’s right to defense is indisputable,” Zelensky said in a statement on the communication application Telegram. “Terror is always a crime, not just against one country or specific victims, but against humanity as a whole. The world must stand united … so that terror does not attempt to take or destroy life anywhere and at any moment.”
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry similarly expressed “support for Israel in its right to defend itself and its people” in a separate statement this weekend.
Following his strong stance on Tuesday, Zelensky conceded publicly that he had some concern that support for Israel would divert international attention from his own country.
“There is a risk that international attention will turn away from Ukraine, and that will have consequences”, Zelensky told the television network France 2.
Zelensky has also accused the Russian government of supporting Hamas.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky makes a speech as he holds a joint press conference with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg (not seen) prior to the NATO Defense Ministers Meeting at the NATO’s headquarters in Brussels, Belgium on October 11, 2023. (Dursun Aydemir/Anadolu via Getty)
“We are certain that Russia is supporting, in one way or another, Hamas operations”, Zelensky said in the same interview. “Russia is really trying to carry out destabilising actions all over the world,” he added.
Russian media reported on Monday that the head of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, was planning a visit to Moscow in the near future, citing Palestinian sources.
Palestinian Ambassador to Russia Abdel Hafiz Nofal reportedly told outlets in the country that “an agreement has been reached that Mr. Abbas will come here to Moscow.”
“We are awaiting an official statement from the Kremlin, from the Russian side, about when the visit will take place,” Nofal added.
In an interview in April 2022, two months after Russia launched its “special operation” to oust his administration, Zelensky said that he considered Israel a model for how post-war Ukraine would function.
“Ukraine will definitely not be what we wanted it to be from the beginning. It is impossible. Absolutely liberal, European – it will not be like that,” the president said. “We will become a ‘big Israel’ with its own face. We will not be surprised if we have representatives of the Armed Forces or the National Guard in cinemas, supermarkets, and people with weapons. I am confident that the question of security will be the issue number one for the next 10 years.”
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