Grain dispute reveals bad blood between Ukraine and Israel

A conflict nigh a ship replete(p) of stolen metric grain has lifted the velum 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.

Zelenskyy is one of only two Jewish heads of government outside of Israel (the other being Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum), and might be expected to have better relations with the Jewish state. But Ukraine has been continually rebuffed to protect Israel’s relationship with Russia.

Frustration has recently turned to anger, as Kyiv accuses Israel of profiting from its misfortunes and colluding with its arch-enemy.

"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."

Far from apologizing, Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar angrily accused Ukraine of Twitter diplomacy.

"Allegations are not evidence," he tweeted. "Evidence substantiating the allegations have yet to be provided. You did not even submit a request for legal assistance before turning to the media and social networks."

Ukrainian officials say they only went public after Israel ignored pleas through diplomatic channels.

"The Israeli government is claiming that the Ukrainians did not submit the proper documentation and paperwork, and that's what led to the misunderstanding. The Ukrainians are basically saying, guys, there have been several others in the last few years, so don't play naive and dumb with us."

McGill University’s Maria Popova, co-author of the book Russia and Ukraine: Entangled Histories, Diverging States, says the dispute merely brings to the surface tensions that have been there for years.

Sa’ar launched further attacks on Ukraine at a joint news conference with a close Russian ally, Serbia’s Foreign Minister Marko Djuric, saying the allegations were "a bit surprising coming from a country that we supported in international forums."

That statement would have raised eyebrows in Kyiv, said Pinkas, since the Israeli government has certainly not backed Ukraine on the world stage when it mattered most. When Russia seized Crimea in 2014, the Netanyahu government resisted U.S. Pressure to condemn it.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Soviet-born foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman instead stressed Israel’s neutrality, and its diplomats angered the Obama administration by absenting themselves from a UN vote that condemned Russia’s invasion.

"We have good and trusting relations with the Americans and the Russians, and our experience has been very positive with both sides. So I don't understand the idea that Israel has to get mired in this," Lieberman told Israel’s Channel 9 News.

The same situation repeated when Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, said Pinkas.

"There was a new government led by Naftali Bennett. They, too, were not pro-Ukrainian. The government was asked by the U.S. Specifically to take a position."

But once again, Israel resisted condemning Russia, said Pinkas, partly because the two countries were co-ordinating their operations in Syria at the time.

Pinkas said that many Israeli observers were convinced the war would be a short one anyway,  and that Ukraine would quickly succumb. Of course, that didn’t happen.

"A few months go by. The U.S. Under Joe Biden fully commits to Ukraine, NATO is fully committed to Ukraine, and Israel still didn't condemn Russia."

Popova agreed that Israel’s preoccupation with events in Syria made it reluctant to challenge Russia while the civil war there continued, "but even after the regime change in Syria, we didn't see Israel come around to helping Ukraine in any meaningful way."

Pinkas says the grain dispute has finally brought Ukraine’s frustration into the open.

"The Ukrainians are pretty pissed at how Israel has behaved since the Russian invasion. As far as they're concerned, this is all part of Israel's duplicitous behavior."

In Israel, too, the government’s reluctance to condemn Russia has become increasingly controversial as Russia clearly sides with Tehran.

There have been reports that Russia may have helped Iran target Israeli energy sites, although other reports suggest Russia has limited its assistance to helping Iran attack U.S. Targets in the Middle East.

When Iran and Israel clashed for 12 days in June 2025, just months after Russia and Iran concluded a comprehensive partnership treaty, Putin chose not to support his new ally, justifying his inaction with the claim that "Israel is almost a Russian-speaking country."

It wasn’t the first time he'd made such a statement. Putin has even suggested that popular Israeli songs are really of Russian origin.

"Russians and Israelis have ties of family and friendship," he said in 2019. "The positions of Russia and Israel, the peoples of our countries, coincide."

Russia has also shown limited willingness to help Iran in the latest round of war, leading to criticism from the Islamic Republic's ambassador in Moscow, Nematollah Izadi.

"Moscow will inevitably have to answer to history for this silence," he told Iran's Shargh Daily.

Officials in Tehran have been less critical, at least in public.

"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?'"

Israel and Russia are also the only two countries in the world whose leaders are wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes. (In both countries, one other official is also sought.)

Both countries hold occupied territories, and both have declared annexations that are not recognized internationally and appear to violate the UN Charter. The similarities go further, says Popova.

"Russia has no right to be confiscating and trading this grain," she said. "It's not Russia's grain, and so it's an international law violation known as the crime of pillage."

Israel, like Russia, exploits the resources of occupied lands for its own benefit.

"The parallel is quite obviously there," said Popova, "and that might be another reason why it's not in Israel's interest to forcefully criticize Russia for occupying parts of Ukraine and exploiting the resources of those parts of Ukraine."

Popova says that while Ukraine may have refrained from calling Israel out in the past, partly out of a desire not to upset the United States, Ukrainian successes on the battlefield and the war in the Persian Gulf have shifted the equation.

"Zelenskyy has much higher confidence right now to assert Ukrainian interests on the global scene. Ukraine now has allies in the Middle East, thanks to Ukraine's well-developed military industry that is now helpful for a lot of different countries. Ukraine has essentially become a security provider rather than a recipient of security," she said.

"So [Zelenskyy] now has the opportunity to be a bit more honest about where things stand."

He also appears to have won the dispute, at least for now. On April 30, the Panormitis sailed out of Haifa without unloading its cargo. Ukrainian authorities say they'll continue to track the vessel, and its stolen grain.

Senior Reporter

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