Israeli foreign minister makes 1st visit to Ukraine since 2023

JERUSALEM/ISTANBUL

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar arrived in Kyiv on Tuesday, marking the first visit by a senior Israeli official to Ukraine since 2023.

Israeli Channel 12 called Sa’ar’s arrival in Kyiv part of a “diplomatic visit.”

Sa’ar is the highest-level Israeli official to visit Kyiv since February 2023, when then-Foreign Minister Eli Cohen visited the country.

No details were provided about the minister’s agenda or the duration of the visit.

In June, Israeli Ambassador to Kyiv Michael Brodsky said that Israel had sent Patriot air defense systems to Ukraine. These systems, originally provided to Israel by the US, had been in use since the 1990s.

Sa’ar’s visit to Ukraine comes as Israel continues its genocidal war on the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7, 2023, killing more than 59,100 Palestinians, most of them women and children. The military campaign has devastated the enclave, collapsed the health system, and led to severe food shortages.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.