Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett rejected Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s comparison of the Russian invasion to the Nazi genocide.
When asked at a Monday news conference to react to Zelensky’s comments, Bennett said that he understood that Zelensky is “a leader who is fighting for the life of his country” but that “I personally believe that it is forbidden to equate the Holocaust to anything,” Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported.
His comments came a day after the Ukrainian president, who is also Jewish, implored Israeli lawmakers to step up efforts to help his country fight back against Russia.
“Why has Israel refrained from sanctions on Russia? Israel needs to give answers to these questions and after that, live with them,” Zelensky said.
He also asked Israel to send its Iron Dome missile defense system to Ukraine to help protect its citizens from Russian shelling that has devastated parts of the country.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has attempted to justify his invasion by saying that Moscow must intervene to “denazify” Ukraine.
Israel’s government has remained cautious as it tries to serve as mediator in the Russia-Ukraine war.
Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said after Zelensky’s speech that it will not become a “route to bypass sanctions imposed on Russia by the United States and other Western countries.”
“We will continue to assist the Ukrainian people as much as we can and we will never turn our backs to the plight of people who know the horrors of war,” Lapid said.
While the country has delivered aid to Ukraine, it has rejected requests to provide arms or impose sanctions against Russia or its oligarchs, The Associated Press noted.
Zelensky suggested on Sunday that Jerusalem could be the site of future peace talks with Russia.
However, Bennett added that large gaps remain between the two sides.
“There’s still a long way to go, because … there are several issues in dispute, some of them fundamental,” Bennet said during a speech, according to Reuters.