On 24 February the Israeli government issued a statement calling the Russian military operation in Ukraine a “violation of the world order.”

“The Russian attack on Ukraine is a violation of the world order and Israel condemns it. Israel is ready to give humanitarian assistance to Ukraine. Israel knew many wars. War is not the way to solve conflicts,” the statement signed by Foreign Minister Yair Lapid says.

A few hours later Prime Minister Bennett Naftali echoed Lapid’s words and added that Israel “still hopes that dialogue will lead to a resolution.”

Israeli media outlets later reported that Lapid had spoken with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken regarding the conflict in Ukraine.

In the lead up to the current conflict Tel Aviv remained hesitant to openly state its support for Kiev due to what many perceive to be a fear of souring relations with Moscow. Israel believes that tension with Russia would jeopardize its illegal military operations in Syria.

The frequent Israeli airstrikes on Syria have, to a large extent, been made possible due to coordination between Tel Aviv and Moscow, which has significant control of the Syrian airspace.

There are now fears in Tel Aviv that siding with Ukraine could push the Russian government to reconsider its policy of allowing Israeli warplanes to violate the airspace of the war-torn country.

Earlier this month reports indicated that Israel went so far as to deny the transfer of Israeli weapons from Baltic states to Ukraine in an effort to appease the Kremlin.

However, over recent weeks Russian leaders have expressed some reservations about the policy and have openly condemned the unprovoked airstrikes on Syria.

In late January, the Russian air force conducted joint patrols with the Syrian air force for the first time. This move was seen as a deterrent to the Israeli military. In response, most of the recent Israeli attacks on Syria have been carried out using ground-to-ground missiles instead of the usual practice of using fighter jets to bomb targets.