Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's first major mistake came on the 25th day of the horrific war imposed on his country by Russia. Luckily for Ukraine, this didn't come in the form of a military blunder, rather in his video address to the Israeli Knesset. His error won't determine the fate of the battle against the Russian invader, and won't change the fact that Ukraine is justified in its heroic stance against Vladimir Putin's aggression. With that, it's strange that a smart, knowledgeable leader, whose rhetorical skills are a significant component of his repertoire, couldn't find a more suitable way to appeal to the hearts and minds of Israelis and their elected officials, committing every possible mistake in such a short speech.
His address glossed over all the important points. Instead, we heard artificial comparisons between Hitler's "final solution" and Putin's desire to defeat Ukraine and subjugate it to his totalitarian regime. The comparison was wrong, and wasn't smart. Instead of discussing the essentials, the Jewish president of Ukraine chose to focus on the mundane. Why was it important to note the coincidence of February 24th being the date Russia invaded his country and the date the Nazi party was established 102 years ago? After all, even had Putin chosen a different date to launch his missiles and bombs at innocent Ukrainian civilians, it wouldn't have made his despicable actions more justified.
Zelenskyy's comparisons were superfluous and detrimental – and mainly unnecessary. There is no reason to evoke the Jewish people's tragic history in the Holocaust to explain that Putin's tyrannical regime is currently perpetrating a terrible crime against a sovereign country. Noting the Ukrainian righteous among the nations who saved Jews from the Nazis also left a bitter taste, as it's impossible to forget the many more other Ukrainians who gladly helped and joined the Nazis in slaughtering their Jewish neighbors.
If the Ukrainian president really wanted to appeal to the sensitivities of Israelis and point to the similarities to his people, who are doggedly and courageously fighting for their independence against a diabolical enemy, then the obvious and correct comparison was right in front of him: Ukraine's fight against Putin's merciless onslaught is similar to Israel's fight against Arab aggression.
The gallant defense of Ukraine by citizens of all nationalities (Ukrainians, Russians, Jews, and others) against the cruel invader is reminiscent of the Jewish stance against the combined invading Arab armies in the War of Independence and the wars that followed. The Russian proclamation that the country of Ukraine doesn't have the right to exist is analogous to the Arab insistence that the Jewish state doesn't have the right to exist. And the means being employed by the Russians are similar in their brutality to those methods primarily predicated on intentionally targeting the civilian population.
It's not for nothing that the only demonstrations in favor of the Russian invasion were held in Syria and the Palestinian Authority. It's not a coincidence that only Hamas and Hezbollah have shown an affinity for Putin's actions, and that the volunteers and mercenaries joining Putin's army are coming from these places. It's not for nothing that the Joint Arab List was the only political faction in Israel to defiantly boycott Zelenskyy's speech. The Ukrainian president squandered his opportunity to address all of this. Let's hope history doesn't judge him too harshly for it.
