KYIV -- Four days after the Palestinian extremist group Hamas attacked Israel, Rabbi Moshe Reuven Azman, one of the leaders of Ukraine's diverse Jewish community, published two photos showing his four grandchildren hiding from air strikes underground.
The first one was taken in a cellar in a village near Kyiv at the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022, and the second was shot last month in a bomb shelter in Israel.
"Two different parts of the world, but such a common pain and struggle," Azman wrote in a Facebook post, adding a prayer for God to punish “all those involved in the terror of the civilians.”
Many Ukrainians saw similar parallels between the invasion of Israel by Hamas -- designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. and EU -- and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Some of those who fled Ukraine for Israel to escape Russian attack found themselves under fire once again.
Rami Abu Shamseim has a different perspective. A Palestinian-born Ukrainian surgeon and university teacher, he told RFE/RL that, for him, the deadly conflict in the Middle East is "a double tragedy that affects both of my homelands.”
When the Russian Army approached Kyiv in February last year, Shamseim drove his wife and their children out of the city and joined the volunteer territorial defense unit in the capital. Since then, he has shuttled frequently to the front lines to help treat wounded soldiers.
On October 6, the day before Hamas attacked Israel, Shamseim was on his way from Ukraine to the West Bank for his father’s funeral -- but a flight was canceled and he didn’t make it.
"Some acquaintances back home call me a traitor for my support of Ukraine," he said, adding that he believes that the majority of Palestinians are pro-Russian and view Ukraine as a close American ally.
He also said that Israel’s blockade and offensive in the Gaza Strip “bring back memories of the Russian siege of Mariupol," the large Azov Sea port in the Donetsk region that Moscow’s forces seized in May 2022 after a monthlong onslaught that razed the city and killed a still unknown number of civilians.
"All I can do is keep defending my home” in Ukraine, he said, and pray “for people to reclaim their conscience.”
Angst About Aid
For most in Ukraine, though, the parallels between Hamas and Russia seem stronger, for several reasons. Among them are Moscow’s long history of siding with the Palestinians, suspicions of a Kremlin hand in the Hamas invasion, and Russia’s public signaling since the assault: President Vladimir Putin has avoided criticism of Hamas, and his government hosted a high-level delegation from the militant group earlier this month.
In the aftermath of the October 7 attack, displays of solidarity with Israel emerged quickly in Ukraine. People laid flowers at the Israeli Embassy in Kyiv, and Israeli flags appeared on billboards across the country.
"Our initial reactions to this faraway war were based on simplistic associations and driven by recent traumas," Ihor Semyvolos, director of the Center for Middle East Studies in Kyiv, told RFE/RL. Ukraine's authorities, he said, have in turn focused "almost solely on how this war could affect our country."
Crucially, the Israel-Hamas war has already affected the prospects for further outside aid to Ukraine, fueling already fiery disagreements among politicians and populaces in Europe and the United States.
"It's clear that the war in the Middle East is taking away the focus" on Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on November 4, suggesting that this is playing into Russia’s hands but is nothing that Kyiv can’t handle.
On the day of the Hamas attack, Zelenskiy said that "Israel's right to defend itself is indisputable" and called on the world to "stay united against terror."
Two days later, speaking to NATO's Parliamentary Assembly in Copenhagen via video link, he drew parallels between the attack on Israel and the invasion of Ukraine, calling Hamas a "terrorist organization" and Russia a "terrorist state" -- the latter a description Kyiv has been using since long before October 7.
Zelenskiy asserted that it is in Russia's interests to ignite war in the Middle East and called on the international community not to engage in dialogue with countries such as Russia and Iran.
Following the carnage at Gaza City's Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital, where hundreds of people died in a blast that each side blamed on the other, the Foreign Ministry reiterated Ukraine’s support for Israel's "efforts to counter terrorist acts" but also said Kyiv "advocates the settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through political and diplomatic means."
Later, on October 19, after a telephone call with U.S. President Joe Biden, Zelenskiy used more measured words, saying that "Ukrainians and Americans sympathize with all the victims of these tragic events" and vowed that "Ukraine is ready to work together with America and all partners to stabilize the situation and save as many lives as possible."
It feels like we are on the verge of the world war between democracy and authoritarianism, but the West is doing all it can to limit it to the boundaries of Ukraine."-- Yosyf Zissels, former Soviet dissident
Biden has sought to ensure that U.S. support for Ukraine will continue, stating that the world “cannot and will not let terrorists like Hamas and tyrants like Putin win” and proposing a combined security package that includes some $60 billion in new aid for Ukraine and $14 billion for Israel.
The fate of that proposal -- and of any legislation for additional U.S. aid to Ukraine -- is clouded by disagreements in Washington as the November 2024 elections draw closer, adding to fears in Ukraine that the conflict in the Middle East could severely hamper Kyiv’s battle to defend itself and drive Russia’s forces out of the country.
'Hostage Of Geopolitics'
At this crucial time, Russia has made narratives about the Israel-Hamas war part of its effort to undermine support for Ukraine in the United States and around the world.
On October 9, military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov accused Moscow of seeking to discredit Kyiv by sending Hamas weapons that Russian forces captured on the battlefield in Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Russia has stepped up attacks since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war, launching the largest offensive in months around the city of Avdiyivka in the Donetsk region and intensifying bombardments around Kupyansk and Lyman, two towns farther north that it had occupied last year before being forced out by Ukrainian troops.
Despite a string of setbacks like that in 2022, and Russia’s failure to gain substantial ground this year, Putin has shown no sign of letting up on the invasion, and analysts say the Israel-Hamas war -- which cast doubt on support for Kyiv and helps him court the Global South -- may only increase his hopes for victory in Ukraine.
Yosyf Zissels, a Ukrainian human rights activist and former Soviet dissident, told RFE/RL that by ramping up the confrontation between the West and countries including Iran, Russia, and China, the Mideast war is turning Ukraine into a “hostage of geopolitics.”
"It feels like we are on the verge of the world war between democracy and authoritarianism, but the West is doing all it can to limit it to the boundaries of Ukraine. And we have to fight, no matter how much we hate it,” he said.
Israel Reset?
David Milman, the Jewish military chaplain of Ukraine's armed forces, also suggests that Russia’s war on his country is part of a broader standoff.
"We found ourselves in an age of turbulence where everybody has to decide which side they will stand by," he told RFE/RL in the Brodsky Central Synagogue in Kyiv, adding that "Russia has made its choice."
Like others in Ukraine, Milman believes that the new situation could foster tighter ties with Israel, which could bring substantial benefits when it comes to defending against Russia.
He had personally brokered the transfer of components from Israel for Ukrainian air-defense systems and voiced confidence that Israeli support for Ukraine will now increase given that "Ukraine has backed Israel so strongly on the Palestinian question."
Shortly after the Hamas attack on Israel, Zelenskiy reportedly asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he could show solidarity by visiting Israel but was told, essentially, "Now is not the time."
It would not be the first time Ukraine has gotten the cold shoulder from Netanyahu, who has a long-standing relationship with Putin and has avoided alienating Russia for a number of reasons -- one of them being that Russia, which controls a large part of the skies above Syria, has let Israeli warplanes bomb forces of the militant group Hizballah.
Prospects for a visit remain uncertain despite a report that said Zelenskiy could travel to Israel as early as this week.
In March 2022, Zelenskiy's address to Israeli lawmakers got a chilly reception because of his comparison of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine with the Holocaust and his overt critique of Israeli-Russian ties.
Israel condemned the Russian invasion at the time, but it did not join Western sanctions against Moscow and later turned down Ukrainian requests for military support, limiting itself to humanitarian aid. Tel Aviv also suspended visa-free travel for Ukrainians and restricted the arrival of Ukrainian refugees.
'An Unresolvable Issue'
Moreover, the countries have differed in numerous UN votes in recent years. With Russia’s aggression in mind since Moscow seized Crimea almost a decade ago, Ukraine has repeatedly supported UN resolutions condemning the occupation of Palestinian lands, going against the United States and many Western countries.
Israel, for its part, did not support the UN General Assembly resolution condemning the Russian takeover of Crimea and confirming Ukraine's territorial integrity in 2014. Two years later, Ukraine supported a resolution that deemed Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem unlawful.
Finally, in November 2022, Kyiv voted in favor of a resolution on nuclear disarmament in the Middle East that targeted Israel's undeclared nuclear program, and also backed one calling for the opening of an International Court of Justice investigation into Israel's "prolonged occupation, settlement, and annexation of Palestinian territory."
Against this backdrop, Semyvolos said that, in the long run, Kyiv’s vocal support for Israel since October 7 could prove to be an “ideological minefield."
Zissels, on the other hand, views those UN votes as a result of "inertia" and argues that relations between Ukraine and Israel had been improving long before the current wars broke out.
Like others in Ukraine, he says Israel and Ukraine have "shared fates" -- both at times fighting hostile neighbors for their right to exist -- and has frequently cited Israel as a model for Ukraine's future.
But he also suggests the conflict in the Middle East could be a model in another, more grim way.
"Sadly, the Russian-Ukrainian war may, like Israel's conflict with Palestine, become an unresolvable issue," he said.
