PM Holds ‘Friendly’ UN Sidelines Meet With Zelensky against Backdrop of Tensions

Ahnaf Kalam

UNITED NATIONS – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky held a meeting on Tuesday described by both sides as positive against the backdrop of tense relations since the start of Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

The meeting on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, which Zelensky said was “good” as he exited the room, was the first between the two leaders since Netanyahu returned to power in December of last year.

According to Netanyahu’s office, the meeting was “friendly” and Israel pledged to continue to provide humanitarian aid, including assistance in dealing with land mines.

But Israel nearly set the meeting off course before it even started.

Read the full article at the Times of Israel.

Lazar Berman is the diplomatic correspondent at the Times of Israel, where he also covers Christian Affairs. He holds an M.A. in Security Studies from Georgetown University and taught at Salahuddin University in Iraqi Kurdistan. Berman is a reserve captain in the IDF’s Commando Brigade and served in a Bedouin unit during his active service.
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I recently witnessed something I haven’t seen in a long time. On Friday, August 16, 2024, a group of pro-Hamas activists packed up their signs and went home in the face of spirited and non-violent opposition from a coalition of pro-American Iranians and American Jews. The last time I saw anything like that happen was in 2006 or 2007, when I led a crowd of Israel supporters in chants in order to silence a heckler standing on the sidewalk near the town common in Amherst, Massachusetts. The ridicule was enough to prompt him and his fellow anti-Israel activists to walk away, as we cheered their departure. It was glorious.