Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday evening about the war in Ukraine, the Kremlin said in a statement.
Putin provided Bennett with his assessments about the peace talks with Ukraine in addition to the “progress of the special military operation,” the statement said.
Putin also expressed condolences on Tuesday’s terror attack in the southern Israeli city of Beersheba that killed four people and wounded several more, the statement said.
It was the third stabbing attack this week by Arab terrorists but was the deadliest terror attack in Israel in years.
Nevertheless, Bennett has intensified efforts to act as mediator between Moscow and Kyiv over the last week.
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett offered to act as a mediator between Russia and Ukraine during a phone call with President Vladimir Putin on Sunday, a statement from the Kremlin said. https://t.co/2sGt1mMAFu
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) February 27, 2022
He has spoken with each leader several times since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24 as well as making a lightening trip to Moscow earlier this month to meet with Putin.
Zelensky was the first to suggest Jerusalem was in a good position to act as an intermediary between the warring nations though Putin was initially reticent.
On Sunday, Zelensky delivered a scathing address to the Israeli parliament on Sunday condemning Bennett’s mediation efforts with Putin as an attempt to mediate “between good and evil.”
Israel has a “moral duty” to do everything in its power to bring an end to the human suffering in Ukraine, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said. https://t.co/hxgiaVkyxz
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) March 6, 2022
Zelensky however seemed to walk back his remarks later that day when he told Ukrainians during his nightly address that Bennett was spearheading many efforts to hold talks between his country and Russia and suggested that Jerusalem might host a peace summit between the two sides.
“The prime minister of Israel, Mr. [Naftali] Bennett, is trying to find a way of holding talks. And we are grateful for this. We are grateful for his efforts, so that sooner or later we will begin to have talks with Russia, possibly in Jerusalem,” Zelensky said, according to a translation by Reuters.
A woman holds up a sign reading “stop the war” and in the other hand a cartoon depicting Russia’s president Vladimir Putin as a cockroach being sprayed with insecticide, during a protest against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, in Israel’s Mediterranean coastal city of Tel Aviv on March 12, 2022. ( JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty)
As an ally of both Russia and Ukraine, Israel has been cautious about taking sides. Russia has heavy military presence in Syria and controls its skies and as such, Jerusalem coordinates all military strikes on Iranian targets in Syria with Moscow.
More than 1.5 million of Israel’s 9.3 million citizens are from Russia and Ukraine. Some 200,000 Ukrainians are eligible to immigrate to Israel according to Israel’s Law of Return.
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