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Veteran Israeli Diplomat: ‘We Are Only Part of the West When It Suits Us’

Alon Liel discusses the lack of arms for Ukraine and the long-term damage accommodating Moscow could do.

By , a former Arab affairs correspondent at the Jerusalem Post.
Alon Liel introduces his Syrian-American counterpart.
Alon Liel introduces his Syrian-American counterpart.
Alon Liel, former director-general of Israel’s foreign ministry, introduces his Syrian-American counterpart, Ibrahim Suleiman (unseen), at a press conference in Jerusalem on April 12, 2007. David Silverman/Getty Images

A day after Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz announced that Israel is refusing Ukraine’s request for Israeli weaponry to shield it from Russian air attacks, many experts in the United States and Europe are irate with Israel’s decision, which left it a rare outlier among Western countries.

Ben Lynfield is a former Arab affairs correspondent at the Jerusalem Post. He has written for the National, the Independent, and the Christian Science Monitor.

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