A secret mission: Ukraine military delegation in Israel

ALBAWABA - The Ukraine government under Volodymryr Zelensky just will not give up although Israel and its Jewish leaders have constantly snubbed them in the past, at least few, months.

The recent Ukraine military delegation led by top military officer has been kept a secret till the media has gotten hold of the news first blurted out by Israel's Channel 13. 

Ever since, talk of the Ukraine military delegates have been making the rounds on different social media platforms. The Ukraine soldiers want Israel to supply them with early warning systems and other military hardware but would the Israeli military do so?

Ukraine politicians nor their military are not giving up. They will not heed to the Israeli pronouncements made before made before - in fact since the war began in their country on 24 February - and now, that Tel Aviv, at least publicly, will not provide weapons to Kiev. 

Its clear the Israeli government and military would have liked to continue to keep the "weapons sojourn" a secret because they don't want to upset Russia or its president Vladimir Putin for reasons that have been made too clear by now. The Israeli government wants the channels of communication to be kept open with Moscow as a global and regional player and it wants the skies to continue to be open over Syria to launch military strikes on that country.

Its that sought of relationship that Israel doesn't want upset because of the intractable regional power game that is being played in that country that includes Iran, Hezbollah and the forces of the Assad government himself. It has launched hundreds if not thousands of military strikes in Syria over the past years and would prefer to continue to do so with different degrees and with little or no interference from anyone.

Thus the Ukraine military delegations in Israel might alter that relations if a tip in the balance is perceived by Moscow or of the other protagonists. The outgoing Israeli prime minister Yair Lapid has already kept his military distance with Kiev. The incoming Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu - in his past role as PM and something that is likely to continue under his new government - will seek to pursue amicable relations with Moscow.

That means Tel Aviv will continue to regard Kiev with unease even though it has already sent so-called humanitarian aid to Ukraine and would certainly avoid submitting to the Ukraine leadership for military hardware or even think of closing the distance with Kiev.