Ukraine offered Israel to join the international compensation architecture for Russian aggression

Ukraine offers Israel to move to a new level of relations: from cautious support of Ukrainian sovereignty to participation in the system of holding Russia accountable for the war, cooperation in the field of security, defense technologies, economy, recovery, and historical memory.

Two meetings in Jerusalem: Israeli Foreign Ministry and economic track

On July 5, 2026, in Jerusalem, the Ukrainian delegation led by Iryna Mudra, Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, held a series of meetings with Israeli representatives.

There were two key meetings.

The first was political-diplomatic, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Israel.

From the Ukrainian side, Iryna Mudra and Olha Vasylevska-Smahliuk, a member of the Ukrainian parliament, participated.

From the Israeli side, the meeting was held with Yuval Fuchs, Deputy Director General of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Eurasia. This direction in the Israeli foreign policy department is related, among other things, to the Ukrainian agenda.

The second meeting was in an economic format — with Zeev Elkin, Minister for Restoration in the Ministry of Finance of the State of Israel and Co-Chairman of the Joint Ukrainian-Israeli Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation.

This meeting also took place on July 5 in Jerusalem.

The parties discussed the implementation of the agreements of the 13th joint meeting of the Ukrainian-Israeli commission, further trade growth, investments, Ukraine’s recovery, and preparation for the 85th anniversary of the Babyn Yar tragedy.

Thus, Mudra’s visit to Israel turned out to be not just a protocol meeting, but an attempt to connect several directions of the Ukrainian-Israeli dialogue: diplomacy, security, economy, recovery, historical memory, and the issue of justice for Russian aggression.

The main signal from Kyiv: Russia must pay

The most important political emphasis of the visit was voiced during the discussion of the topic of justice.

Iryna Mudra proposed that Israel consider the possibility of joining the international architecture of compensations for Ukraine.

This refers to a system that should ensure Russia’s financial responsibility for the damage caused to Ukraine as a result of the war.

This is not a formal diplomatic phrase.

For Ukraine, compensations are a matter of restoring destroyed cities, homes, hospitals, schools, energy, bridges, enterprises, communities, and human lives that can no longer be returned, but the consequences of the crime cannot be left unanswered.

Mudra formulated this very clearly:

“Russian aggression must have not only political and criminal but also financial costs.”

This phrase became the semantic center of the visit.

Ukraine tells Israel: aggression cannot end only with condemnation, resolutions, and investigations. If a state destroys another country, kills civilians, launches missiles and drones at cities, destroys infrastructure, and tries to break another nation’s right to exist, it must pay.

For Kyiv, this is a matter of justice.

For Israel, it is a matter of strategic choice and participation in the international system of responsibility.

Meeting at the Israeli Foreign Ministry: security, sanctions, and Ukraine’s expectations

During the meeting at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Israel, Iryna Mudra and Olha Vasylevska-Smahliuk spoke with Yuval Fuchs about where Ukrainian-Israeli relations stand today and what they should become in the future.

Ukraine appreciates Israel’s support for its sovereignty and territorial integrity.

But Kyiv expects a stronger voice from Jerusalem in response to Russian strikes on Ukrainian cities and civilians.

This is one of the most sensitive points.

Russia continues to attack Ukraine with missiles and drones, hitting residential areas, energy, hospitals, civilian infrastructure, and ordinary families.

Mudra separately emphasized that the entire Ukraine suffers from these attacks, including the Ukrainian Jewish community.

For the Israeli audience, this is especially important.

This is not only about the state of Ukraine as a partner of Israel. It is about Jewish life in Ukraine — about communities, synagogues, schools, elderly people, children, volunteers, and families experiencing the Russian war together with the whole country.

Ukraine is essentially telling Israel: Russian aggression hits not only Ukrainian statehood but also those people and communities that historically connect Ukraine with the Jewish world.

Ukraine reminded of steps towards Israel

During the negotiations, the Ukrainian side separately reminded that Kyiv has already taken important steps that have direct significance for Israel.

Ukraine recognized the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization.

Ukraine also strengthened criminal responsibility for manifestations of anti-Semitism.

These decisions are important not only in themselves.

For Israel, the IRGC is one of the key sources of threat in the Middle East. And the fight against anti-Semitism is not only a matter of Ukraine’s internal policy but also of trust between Ukraine, Israel, and the global Jewish community.

Against this background, Kyiv expects further rapprochement of positions with Israel in international organizations, sanctions policy, and countering terrorist structures.

Ukraine shows that it is ready to take into account threats and sensitive topics that are important for Israel.

Now Kyiv expects Israel to more clearly see the threats Ukraine faces.

NANews — Israel News | Nikk.Agency views this visit as an attempt to bring the Ukrainian-Israeli dialogue out of the mode of cautious formulations into a conversation about concrete actions: compensations, sanctions, technologies, recovery, and joint security.

Defense technologies: Ukraine comes not only to ask

A separate large block of the conversation concerned what Ukraine and Israel can create together.

Iryna Mudra emphasized that Ukraine has unique experience in countering massive drone and missile attacks in real conditions of a large war.

Israel, in turn, has one of the strongest innovative and defense technology ecosystems in the world.

This is where Kyiv sees space for joint developments, production, experience exchange, and partnerships between states and companies.

This is an important turn.

Ukraine comes to Israel not only as a country asking for help.

Ukraine comes as a state that goes through the war of the future every day: massive drone attacks, missile strikes, energy protection, cyber threats, rapid technological solutions, air defense work, interaction of the army, business, state, and volunteer sector.

For Israel, this experience can be extremely important.

Israel itself lives in the reality of missile threats, drone attacks, terrorist structures, and the constant need to protect the civilian population.

Therefore, Ukrainian-Israeli cooperation in defense technologies can be not a symbolic gesture, but a practical and mutually beneficial direction.

Meeting with Zeev Elkin: economy, trade, and recovery

The second meeting of the Ukrainian delegation in Jerusalem was with Zeev Elkin.

He holds the position of Minister for Restoration in the Ministry of Finance of Israel and is the Co-Chairman of the Joint Ukrainian-Israeli Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation.

According to the Ukrainian embassy in Israel, the parties analyzed the implementation of the agreements of the 13th joint meeting of this commission.

The participants also agreed on the next practical steps that should create conditions for further growth of bilateral trade.

According to Iryna Mudra, the trade turnover between Ukraine and Israel has already approached one billion dollars.

But Kyiv proposes not to stop at trade as a mere exchange of goods and services.

The next stage is specific projects: Israeli investments in Ukraine, Israel’s participation in recovery, joint ventures, medicine and rehabilitation, agrotechnologies, cybersecurity, and protection of critical infrastructure.

For Ukraine, this is a matter of future recovery after Russian aggression.

For Israel, it is an opportunity to participate in large-scale projects in a country that will need technologies, infrastructure solutions, medical expertise, security, modernization, and investments.

Babyn Yar: historical memory as part of the dialogue

During the meeting with Zeev Elkin, special attention was paid to the preparation for the 85th anniversary of the Babyn Yar tragedy.

This was reported by the Ukrainian embassy in Israel.

Babyn Yar is one of the most terrible pages of the Holocaust history on the territory of Ukraine.

For Ukrainian-Israeli relations, this is not just a commemorative date, but a part of common historical memory, painful and important for both sides.

Ukraine shows that the dialogue with Israel is built not only around today’s politics, trade, and security.

It also includes the memory of tragedies that connect Ukrainian land, the Jewish people, and world history.

Preparation for the 85th anniversary of Babyn Yar becomes part of a broader conversation about why impunity, hatred, and the silence of the world always lead to new crimes.

Holodomor in Jerusalem: another point of memory

During the visit, Iryna Mudra also laid flowers at the monument to the victims of the Holodomor in Jerusalem.

She reminded that she had the honor of opening this monument last year.

This gesture is important for understanding the entire logic of the visit.

Ukraine speaks with Israel not only about today’s war but also about past tragedies that show what imperial policies of human destruction and the silence of the world lead to.

The memory of the Holodomor reminds of a crime in which people were deliberately destroyed by hunger.

The memory of Babyn Yar reminds of the mass murder of Jews and the tragedy of the Holocaust on Ukrainian soil.

Today, these topics sound not as separate historical plots.

They become part of the conversation about justice, responsibility, and the price of impunity.

For Ukraine, this is especially important because Russian aggression has once again posed the question to the world: will the crime be punished, or will the international community once again limit itself to words after the tragedy.

Why this visit is important for Israel

In her message, Iryna Mudra wrote that there are things that Ukraine and Israel understand without long explanations.

What it means to live when the enemy openly seeks to destroy your state.

What it means to protect people from missiles and drones every day.

Why security, technological advantage, and international solidarity have the price of human lives.

This thought is the key to the entire visit.

Ukraine addresses Israel not as a distant country that should simply express another support.

Ukraine addresses a state that itself knows the price of survival, the price of security, and the price of international impunity.

That is why Kyiv expects a stronger position from Jerusalem.

Yes, there are complex issues between Ukraine and Israel.

Iryna Mudra herself admits this.

But strategically, the countries are united by more: the struggle for the right to exist, the protection of people from missiles and drones, technological advantage, the memory of past tragedies, and the understanding that aggression should not go unpunished.

Main conclusion

On July 5, 2026, in Jerusalem, the Ukrainian delegation led by Iryna Mudra held two important meetings.

At the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Israel, Mudra and parliament member Olha Vasylevska-Smahliuk met with Yuval Fuchs, Deputy Director General of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Eurasia.

There, Ukrainian-Israeli relations, Israel’s reaction to Russian strikes, sanctions policy, countering terrorist structures, defense technologies, and the possibility of Israel joining the international architecture of compensations for Ukraine were discussed.

Separately, the Ukrainian delegation met with Zeev Elkin, Minister for Restoration in the Ministry of Finance of Israel and Co-Chairman of the Joint Ukrainian-Israeli Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation.

At this meeting, the topics were economy, trade, investments, Ukraine’s recovery, and preparation for the 85th anniversary of the Babyn Yar tragedy.

The main purpose of the visit is that Ukraine offers Israel a new level of relations.

Not just cautious support.

Not just diplomatic formulations.

But participation in the system of holding Russia accountable for the war, developing joint technologies, economic partnership, rebuilding Ukraine, and an honest conversation about memory, security, and justice.

If Russian aggression remains without a financial price, it will become a dangerous signal not only for Ukraine but for the entire world.

Ukraine offers Israel to become part of a mechanism that should show: the aggressor must pay for the destruction of another country.

And now the main question is whether Israel is ready to take the next step.