• Benjamin Netanyahu was questioned about if Israel could offer military assistance to Ukraine.
• He acknowledged that the US has sent a little-known stockpile of artillery to Ukraine from Israel.
• Comments follow a visit by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Following US calls for more active intervention, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated on Wednesday that he was considering providing military assistance to Ukraine and was willing to act as a mediator.

Netanyahu gave no solid guarantees to Ukraine, and Israel has maintained ties with Russia, which rules the air over neighboring Syria and has remained silent about Israeli attacks on Iran’s arch-enemy sites.

In a CNN interview, Netanyahu was questioned about if Israel could offer aid to Ukraine, such as the US-supported Iron Dome system that protects Israel from air attacks.

“Well, I’m certainly looking into it,” Netanyahu said.

He acknowledged that the United States has sent a little-known stockpile of artillery it keeps in Israel to Ukraine, and he framed the Jewish state’s own efforts against Iran as a component of a similar endeavor.

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“The US just took a huge chunk of Israel’s munitions and passed it on to Ukraine. Israel also, frankly, acts in ways that I will not itemize here against Iran’s weapons productions which are used against Ukraine,” he said.

Although Tehran denies it, Ukrainian and Western officials claim that Iran offered cheap drones to Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.

After Russia invaded Ukraine in February, Netanyahu said he was approached to negotiate in an unofficial capacity but declined since he was then in opposition.

If the parties and the United States requested it, he stated he would be willing to mediate.

“I’ve been around long enough to know that there has to be a right time and the right circumstances. If they arise, I’ll certainly consider it,” he said.

The comments follow a visit by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who urged restraint amid an outburst of violence between Israel and the Palestinians and also nudge Israel to increase assistance for Ukraine.

Blinken stated that Ukraine needed assistance “as it bravely defends its people and its very right to exist” in terms that Israelis are accustomed to hearing.

Eli Cohen, the foreign minister of Israel, informed Blinken that he would make his first journey since the conflict to Ukraine to reestablish the embassy there.

In order to arbitrate with Putin, Netanyahu’s predecessor Naftali Bennett made an unexpected trip to Moscow in March.

Bennett attempted to set up direct conversations but was unsuccessful. Instead, Bennett relayed Putin’s words to the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky.

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