White House Clarifies Difference in Nature of Relationship With Ukraine and Israel

While the United States is supporting both Ukraine and Israel in separate foreign conflicts, the country’s relationship with the two nations is “entirely different,” according to the State Department.

Over the weekend, Israel successfully shot down almost all of the 300 drones and missiles that were launched at it by Iran. Many of those were intercepted before they even reached Israel’s territory, thanks in large part by the air defense systems and aircraft that the United States has mobilized to the region.

In the wake of that, Ukrainian officials have asked the United States and other western allies for additional direct support in its ongoing fight with Russia.

The Biden administration has maintained its adamant support of Ukraine in that fight, but the U.S. hasn’t yet sent any troops or more direct aid to Ukraine like it does for Israel. And such support is unlikely to come anytime soon.

At a Tuesday press briefing, Matthew Miller, a spokesperson for the State Department, explained part of the reason for this. He said:

“I think it is important to note the context that we have an entirely different relationship with Ukraine and Israel, in that our relationship with Israel goes back decades in terms of a security partnership.

“We have had a decades-long security partnership with Israel where we have been providing them direct aid, not just going back two years of a conflict, but for decades.”

He added that Ukraine was “just in a different position.”

Before Russia invaded Ukraine in February of 2022, the U.S. simply didn’t have any type of security agreement in place with Ukraine. What America has done, though, is continue to provide Ukraine with equipment they need, as well as funding and humanitarian aid.

Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, highlighted these differences in support that western nations have given to Israel compared to Ukraine. He said it was possible for these countries to provide help to Eastern European nations without dragging NATO “into the war.”

The problem, though, according to Miller, is that the U.S. could only send planes “to be in the skies over Ukraine” if it were in a direct armed conflict with Russia. And, as he reiterated during the press briefing this week:

“We are not going to be in direct armed conflict with Russia. The president of the United States has made that very clear, and I think it’s in the interest of the American people that we not be in direct armed conflict with Russia, because we do not want World War III.

“That said, we are entirely committed to the defense of Ukraine. We have proved that over the past two years. The president has proved that.”

Such comments fall in line with what U.S. officials have been saying for a while now, even as Zelensky begs for more aid from America and western allies.