by Tovah Lazaroff
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky talked to students at Hebrew University during a special video address on Thursday.
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Zelensky delivers a video address to the TIME100 Gala 2022 crowd.
(photo credit: SCREENSHOT VIA YOUTUBE)
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Israel must join the international sanction regime against Russia and allow visa-free entry for refugees fleeing Moscow's aggression, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told students at Hebrew University during a special video address on Thursday.
"Unfortunately, we have not yet seen Israel join the [international] sanctions regime," said Zelensky, whose words were translated from Ukrainian into English.
"When governments introduce sanctions against Russia, this is not about money or about business. It is about values and general security," Zelensky explained.
"When governments introduce sanctions against Russia, this is not about money or about business. It is about values and general security."
Volodymyr Zelensky
"This is about everyone who is willing to destroy another nation [being] held accountable.
"Japan, Australia and many other countries have joined it [the sanctions regime]. Many European countries act together with us against Russian aggression," said Zelensky, who sat next to a Ukrainian flag wearing an olive-colored short sleeve shirt.
Partial understanding
"We understand that it is not a simple situation for you," Zelensky said as tactically acknowledged Israel's tenuous situation given that the Russian military is stationed near its northern border in Syria.
But the situation is no different in Poland, he said, "which is also threatened by Russia. They are providing us with essential logistical support. They hosted 2.5 million people," Zelensky said.
Luxembourg, a small country of 600,000 people have given Ukraine the equivalent of 15% of its defense budget, Zelensky said. Baltic countries have sent weapons, he added.
"We would like to also get support from your government," he told the students.
Israel has stopped the "visa-free" regime, Zelensky said adding that they did in "these days, now."
Ireland, a country with whom Ukraine doesn't have the same historical and cultural ties that it does with Israel, "even they canceled the visa regime for Ukrainians so they could go there and preserve their lives. Japan and Canada simplified access," Zelensky said.
The Ukrainian president described the conditions that his people were escaping. Russian "occupiers" are burying people in collective graves," they are "shooting people on the streets, they are torturing people. They are raping minors, boys and girls," he charged. He similarly accused Moscow of creating camps to torture people.
"How can you not help the victims of such aggression? I asked this question because I know that you do care," Zelensky said.
He did thank Israel for the medication it had sent to Ukraine but noted that it had not received most of the supplies it had requested from Israel.
"Please remember how much our cultures are linked, how close our ties are and what the level of understanding should be between us.
"So why do we have this misunderstanding with some representative of the government? I do not know," Zelensky said adding that he cared 'about the future relations between our state and our people.
"We do have a joint, great future of great people, because we have this great history and great past. We will have to look into each other's eyes for many years to come," he said.
In highlighting Israeli-Ukrainian tiess, Zelensky recalled that former Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir and Jewish playwright Shalom Aleichem were all from Kyiv. Then there are sacred places such as Uman and memorials to the Ukrainian Jews who were killed by the Nazis, he said.
Zelensky's address came close to four months into Russia's invasion of his country, which has galvanized international support for his country. He noted Ukraine was on the edge of acceptance as an accession candidate to the European Union.
"Soon we will be part of that family and we have sacrificed a lot for that," he said.
In March Zelensky virtually addressed the Knesset plenum, speaking there of Israel's role as a mediator between Kyiv and Moscow. This time around, he didn't mention it.
Tovah Lazaroff
Source: https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-710185
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