'We want to live, but our neighbours want to see us dead' - Zelensky
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The Ukrainian president's comparison bolsters Moscow's claim that Kyiv is intent on a programme of violent 'de-Russification'.
The Israeli government has been trying to keep as low a profile as possible over the war in Ukraine but Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, seems determined to drag Israel on to centre stage.
Zelensky made a direct appeal to the Israeli parliament last month, ostensibly asking for weapons, especially the Iron Dome interception system Israel uses to stop short-range rockets fired out of Gaza by Palestinians trying to draw attention to Israel's 15-year siege of the enclave.
But rather than being flattered by the attention, many Israeli politicians objected to Zelensky's speech. In it, he compared Russia's treatment of Ukraine to the Nazis' "Final Solution" for European Jews.
Zelensky, who is Jewish, hoped the parallel would strike home. To most Israeli ears, it sounded offensive. So far Israel has refused to supply Ukraine with weapons or join the West in waging economic warfare on Russia.
It does not help that major Israeli political parties and religious communities have strong geographical and emotional ties to Russia. Or that Moscow is a major actor in the Middle East, not least in neighbouring Syria. Israel coordinates closely with Russia over regular air strikes in Syria - themselves in violation of international law.
Israel has been trying its best to tread a difficult diplomatic path over Ukraine. On the one hand, Israel is a regional client of the United States, under Washington's protection, and wishes to keep its patron happy. And on the other, Israel's military interests are to maintain good relations with Moscow.
Furthermore, Israeli leaders are worried about reinforcing the consensus that what the Russian army is doing in Ukraine amounts to war crimes, thereby creating a very public precedent that could be turned against Israel over its own abuses in the occupied territories.
Adopting an early role as mediator, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett even urged Zelensky to accept a Russian ceasefire proposal.
Mass corpsesNonetheless, Zelensky is intent on tipping the scales in Ukraine's favour with Israel. He understands that his country's plight has captured the western media and western public's sympathy. He has every incentive to weaponise that sentiment to press-gang Israel into more openly supporting Ukraine.
In his speech to the parliament, he appropriated a quote from a former Israeli prime minister, Golda Meir, who claimed that "our enemies want us to cease to exist". Russia planned to do the same to Ukraine, Zelensky warned.
Last week, after the first images emerged of mass corpses in Bucha, near Kyiv, Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid changed tune. He commented on Twitter: "Intentionally harming a civilian population is a war crime and I strongly condemn it."
Presumably, Israel hopes it can evade such criticism itself by claiming it has no "intention" to harm Palestinian civilians, despite so often harming civilians.
And then, last Thursday, Israel conceded further ground by joining the US and Europe in voting to suspend Russia from the United Nations human rights council. Moscow had warned countries that it would treat the move as an "unfriendly gesture", with repercussions for diplomatic relations.
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