Since the start of the war, many comparisons have been drawn between Israel and Ukraine, not least by President Zelensky. Last week, he said he wanted his country to become a ‘big Israel’ in terms of its focus on security in the years to come. And, of course, in terms of a plucky, advanced democracy thriving in the midst of a sea of hostility.
Ukraine’s population is four times bigger than that of Israel. Its territory is more than 13 times the size. The threats it faces are not asymmetrical but those of an old-fashioned hostile state, with tanks and heavy artillery. Israel’s totemic defence systems, such as the Iron Dome missile umbrella, were not designed for such an environment.
Yet the inspiration seems to have a common root. Golda Meir, Israel’s first female prime minister, was born in Ukraine and has become a symbol of devotion in the war-torn country.
Last month, a video went viral featuring a Ukrainian frontline soldier with the nom de guerre of ‘Zion’, who carried a biography of the Israeli leader into battle alongside his night vision sight and assault rifle. ‘I’m a Zionist,’ he declared, proudly.
The spirit is the same. And given the recent atrocities in Bucha, one wonders if an Israeli-style response wouldn’t be in order.
Read the article by Jake Wallis Simons in The Spectator.