Zelensky is tired of chasing after Bibi. The background to the tense conversation between the two in Washington

Kyiv, from our correspondent. The meeting between Volodymyr Zelensky and Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington was very brief and saw very few smiles. It ended with a handshake and a defiant smile between the Ukrainian president and the Israeli prime minister, who had last met in 2023 at the UN General Assembly and before that in 2019 in Ukraine, when it was Netanyahu who undertook a rather historic trip for an Israeli prime minister: it had been twenty years since a prime minister had made an official visit to Kyiv. Zelensky and Netanyahu knew they would both be in Washington, both at the White House, both attending the funeral of Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who had always supported both Ukraine and Israel; and, according to the newspaper Haaretz, the Israelis had also requested a meeting with the Ukrainians.

Zelensky has long been seeking a meeting with the Israeli Prime Minister, so his latest trip to Washington represented a good opportunity for him. However, following the Ukrainians’ positive response, the Israelis went missing, and the only moment they were seen together was for a few minutes on the sidelines of Graham’s funeral, when a camera caught them on film; even without reading their lips, it was clear that the conversation, though brief, was not a relaxed one. Last week, the Ukrainians struck an Iranian ship laden with weapons in the Caspian Sea; they were threatened by Tehran, which promised to strike one of Kyiv’s ports in retaliation. Tensions have eased, but according to Ukrainian sources, the threat remains and the Iranians could decide to strike Odessa or other ports to demonstrate that they are capable of reaching anywhere. For Ukraine, the Islamic Republic of Iran is already an adversary, given that it was the first to come to Russia’s aid; consequently, Ukraine views an alliance with Israel as entirely natural. Israel does not see it in the same light, and whilst the Ukrainians believe they have much in common with the Israelis, the Israelis remain aloof. Even the United States has realised that there are useful lessons to be learnt from Kyiv; for Israel, however, it still seems inconceivable that the IDF might have anything to learn from another army.

On several occasions, Zelensky has expressed his frustration with relations with Israel, whilst Netanyahu has repeatedly ignored the Ukrainians, until things began to move at the level of the foreign ministers. The Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Andrii Sybiha, after several disagreements with his Israeli counterpart, Gideon Sa’ar, has been invited to Israel and has accepted; it will be a high-level visit. Following the United States, perhaps Israel too has realised that, at this moment in time, anyone who leaves Kyiv out of the picture will be left behind.