To most observers, Ukraine and Israel are natural allies as they both fight difficult, long wars against countries on the same hostile axis.
Though the fight began many decades before, following the Hamas invasion of southern Israel on October 7, 2023, Israel has been engaged in a multifront war against Iran and its armed proxies. In June 2025, the focus of that effort shifted to the Islamic Republic itself, which has sustained massive damage in two wars with Israel and the US but is proving more resilient than many expected.
Ukraine, too, has been confronting the Iranian threat since 2022. Since early in Russia’s invasion, Tehran has been providing Moscow with hundreds of exploding drones for use on the battlefield in Ukraine and helped launch their production in Russia.
“Iran supports our enemy and supports aggression,” Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Taras Kachkatold The Times of Israel in December.
But despite the common foe, the Ukraine-Israel relationship remains awkward and tepid, to the detriment of both countries. That reality was on full display this week in Washington, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky held separate meetings with US President Donald Trump on the very same morning, but couldn’t manage a sit-down with each other.
Published originally on July 30, 2026.
Read the full article at the Times of Israel.
