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Israeli foreign ministry to summon Ukrainian ambassador over anti-Israeli criticism

Earlier Sunday, the Ukrainian embassy in Israel released a statement alleging that the Israeli government had embarked on a path of close cooperation with Russia and had in fact taken a pro-Russian stance

TEL AVIV, June 25. /TASS/. The Israeli foreign ministry plans to summon Ukrainian Ambassador Yevgeny Kornichuk following the trenchant criticism from the Ukrainian diplomatic mission, The Jerusalem Post reported on Sunday.

"The Foreign Ministry plans to summon Ukrainian Ambassador to Israel Yevgen Kornichuk for a reprimand after the embassy released a strong statement opposing Israel’s policy on the war in his country," it said.

Earlier on Sunday, the Ukrainian embassy in Israel released a statement alleging that the Israeli government has embarked on a path of close cooperation with Russia and has actually take a pro-Russian position. "The so-called ‘neutrality’ of [the] Israel government is considered as a clear pro-Russian position," the Ukrainian embassy stated, noting that amid the hostilities in Ukraine, Israel is establishing closer relations with Russia. The embassy called on Israel "to change its position and to support Ukraine with defensive means, to support freedom and democratic world order." "We expect Israel to be on [the] right side of history!" it stressed.

In response, Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said that his country has already chosen the right side of history and is providing humanitarian assistance to Ukraine.

Since early 2022, Ukraine has been asking Israel to provide it with weapons, including air defense systems, but the Israeli side has been turning down these requests, saying that the Israeli government is guided by the national security interests and will limit its assistance to humanitarian aid and non-lethal weapons.