November 2023 — MHCE Newsletter
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20 | <strong>MHCE</strong> - News www.mhce.us NOVEMBER <strong>2023</strong> EDITION<br />
New danger for Ukraine: Taking Israel’s side in war<br />
against Hamas and Gaza<br />
KYIV <strong>—</strong> Ukraine President<br />
Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s immediate<br />
and forceful support for Israel in its<br />
fight against Hamas has imperiled<br />
almost a year of concerted efforts by<br />
Kyiv to win the support of Arab and<br />
Muslim nations in its war against<br />
Russia.<br />
Zelenskyy’s early statements<br />
backing Israel after the surprise<br />
attack by Hamas, in which more than<br />
1,400 Israelis were killed, helped<br />
Ukraine stay in the international<br />
spotlight, and placed it firmly on the<br />
side of the United States.<br />
Zelenskyy’s position also drew<br />
attention to the increasingly close<br />
relationship between Russia and<br />
Iran, which is a main sponsor of<br />
Hamas, a sworn enemy of Israel, and<br />
also an important supplier of drones<br />
and other weapons for Moscow.<br />
Hamas and Russia are the “same<br />
evil, and the only difference is that<br />
there is a terrorist organization that<br />
attacked Israel and here is a terrorist<br />
state that attacked Ukraine,”<br />
Zelenskyy said in a speech to<br />
NATO’s Parliamentary Assembly<br />
on Oct. 9.<br />
But with Israel’s military operation<br />
set to enter its fourth week, and<br />
Palestinian civilian casualties<br />
mounting, the war in Gaza is posing<br />
one of the most difficult diplomatic<br />
tests for Ukraine since Russia’s<br />
invasion in February 2022.<br />
Countries like Turkey, Saudi Arabia<br />
and Qatar, which at times have<br />
provided crucial support to Ukraine,<br />
have accused the West of double<br />
standards in Gaza, alluding to the<br />
broad condemnation of civilian<br />
deaths in Ukraine compared with<br />
the muted criticism of Israel.<br />
Tension with Muslim and Arab<br />
nations, however, is just one risk<br />
facing Kyiv, which must now also<br />
contend with the world’s attention<br />
shifting largely to new war in the<br />
Middle East, as well as competing<br />
demands for U.S. military support<br />
at a time when House Republicans<br />
just elected a new speaker, Mike<br />
Johnson (La.), who has opposed<br />
sending additional aid to Ukraine.<br />
Some experts noted that Israel had<br />
already made clear it was not going<br />
to reciprocate with greater support<br />
for Ukraine.
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