A dispute about a ship full of stolen grain has lifted the veil on a geopolitical reality that has persisted for years but is rarely mentioned in western capitals or noticed by western media: the curiously friendly relationship between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Last week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy took to X to complain that a Panama-flagged ship was preparing to unload 25,000 tonnes of wheat and barley stolen from his country in Haifa, Israel. An investigation by Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz suggests the Panormitis was at least the fifth ship so far this year to carry grain taken from occupied Ukraine to Israel.
"In any normal country, purchasing stolen goods is an act that entails legal liability," Zelenskyy wrote. "This is not — and cannot be — legitimate business. The Israeli authorities cannot be unaware of which ships are arriving at the country’s ports and what cargo they are carrying.”
Ukraine’s government has now filed a criminal complaint in Israel against those it believes to be the buyers of that grain, after its requests for Israeli officials to act were greeted with angry lectures by the Netanyahu government.
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"Russia is systematically seizing grain on temporarily occupied Ukrainian land and organizing its export through individuals linked to the occupiers," Zelenskyy
posted on April 28. "Such schemes violate the laws of the State of Israel itself. Ukraine has taken all necessary steps through diplomatic channels to prevent such incidents. However, we see that yet another such vessel has not been stopped."
Zelenskyy warned that Ukraine is preparing a "relevant sanctions package that will cover both those directly transporting this grain and the individuals and legal entities attempting to profit from this criminal scheme."
The European Union backed Ukraine, threatening sanctions of its own.
"We condemn all actions that help fund Russia’s illegal war effort," said EU foreign affairs spokesperson Anouar El Anouni, "and remain ready to target such actions by listing individuals and entities in third countries if necessary."
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"The Russians are playing a very nasty game here," said Pinkas, adding that it should have been a turning point when Iran installed a Shahed drone assembly line in Crimea, but "still Israel didn't take a pro-Ukrainian position."
"I understand that when there's this huge country called Russia not far away and you have 1.2 million Russian speakers, you're circumspect about taking a bold position. But there's no question that it's becoming bizarre how much Israel is in denial over Russian-Iranian co-operation."
There is another factor holding Israel back. Pinkas says Israeli diplomats are also aware that calling out Russia’s behaviour risks drawing attention to the parallels with Israel.
"On what basis should Israel take a position against Russia? If it’s the illegal occupation of land, then Israel itself is going to be blamed for that," he said. "And so Israel kept a low profile."
The same is true of allegations that Russia targets Ukrainian civilians, said Pinkas. Although Israel, unlike Russia, can claim to be responding to an attack, "Israel finds it difficult to stand up to and repudiate Russian actions because they're going to say, 'Whoa, isn't this what you're doing?'"
