Israeli Ambassador to Ukraine Eli Belotsercovsky describes Israel and Ukraine as enjoying "excellent relations" overall, despite a lagging economic relationship.
And the ties have undeniably strong elements.
Among them: An estimated 500,000 Jews of Ukrainian origin live in Israel, a sizeable share of the Middle Eastern nation’s 8 million people. Ukraine now ranks No. 6 in tourists to Israel, with 130,000 Ukrainians traveling to Israel every year and 100,000 Israelis to Ukraine. Many great Israelis from cultural, business, religious and political life – including Israeli prime ministers Golda Meir, Levi Eshkol and Moshe Sharett — were born in Ukraine.
The relationship also has undeniably complicated and tragic elements.
Ukraine was a major center of Jewish life in Europe before World War II and the Holocaust that killed six million Jews and prompted millions of others to flee Europe. Today, Ukraine has an estimated 130,000 Jews, more or less. Whatever the number, the community is a tiny part of a nation with more than 40 million people. The process of reconciliation is, in many ways, just under way and this fall the commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the Babyn Yar massacres, scene of the murders of more than 100,000 people when Ukraine was under Nazi Germany occupation, will take place in Kyiv.
At the same time, the two nations also have undeniably weaker elements.
Israel, for instance, did not vote on the United Nations resolution in 2014 to condemn Russia’s forced annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula. It also does not support economic or political sanctions against Russia, even though Israel is adamantly for sanctions to stop Iran’s capability of becoming a nuclear power. Israel also does not provide Ukraine with lethal weapons for help in defending against Russia’s war launched two years ago.
“We are not big enough to join the sanctions,” Belotsercovsky said in a recent interview with the Kyiv Post in the Israeli Embassy in Kyiv on 34 Lesi Ukrainky Blvd ahead of the Kyiv Post’s Capturing New Markets conference in Kyiv on March. 29. “We support the territorial integrity of Ukraine. We do not recognize the annexation of Crimea.”
Additionally, the two nations have not reached a bilateral free-trade agreement yet despite years of on-and-off negotiations. Trade between the nations dropped to less than $1 billion last year and is set to decline even more dramatically this year.
“We think it’s way below the potential,” Belotsercovsky said. “This year – and in 2015 – the figures show a drastic decrease in exports from Israel to Ukraine. There are a number of reasons for that – the main reason is the very rapid devaluation of the Ukrainian currency, which makes imports more difficult.”
Ukraine’s weakening economy is not the only factor holding back investment between the nations.
Israel is a small but comparatively wealthy market with an export-driven economy, making it difficult for Ukrainian entrepreneurs to get a foothold in any sector. “Practically all of our big companies succeed because they export,” the ambassador said.
At the same time, the balance of trade is decisively in Ukraine’s favor — with Ukraine exports to Israel accounting for all but $194.5 million of the $930 million in overall trade, according to Ukraine’s Embassy in Israel . For instance, some 40 percent of Israel’s grain comes from Ukraine, Belotsercovsky said.
Possible openings for Ukraine, besides food exports, include the high-tech industry and supplying laborers. Currently, Israeli is experiencing a shortage of construction workers that it hopes to fill with Ukrainians.
Other problems holding back Israeli-Ukrainian trade include the lack of credit and risk insurance for investors. Israel has ASHRA , the Israeli Foreign Trade Risk Insurance Corporation. But the ambassador said “the current instruments they offer are not sufficient to provide the answer” to risk insurance needed to induce greater Israeli investment in Ukraine.
Still, the commercial section of the Israeli Embassy can identify at least a half-dozen Israeli companies in Ukraine, including Teva, Natafim, Adama, Dorot, Odis and Mobileye.
One factor that doesn’t hold back Israeli investors is Russia’s war against Ukraine.
“For Israeli businessmen, conflict is not such a big issue,” the ambassador said. “There is a big community who were born here (in Ukraine), who know the mentality, who speak the language. They know how to operate in these conditions. So I think there’s a lot of interest in Israel in what is happening in Ukraine.”
Israel’s right to exist as a nation has been under a constant state of siege since its founding in 1948, requiring it to mobilize the entire population for defense as well as the Jewish diaspora abroad and many allies, including the United States, for survival.
“Israel has been in conflict ever since establishment, under existential threat,” he said. “When you live under these conditions, it’s a matter of survival to have your whole society ready for it and be ready to deal with whatever situation occurs.”
What can Ukraine learn from Israel about growing an economy despite conflicts, as Israel has done?
He said Ukraine is in a different situation and “it’s the job of Ukrainian authorities to see what from the Israeli experience is applicable. We are ready to share our experience.”
But Ukraine cannot expect too much from Israel, even though Israelis have four times the per capita income of Ukrainians – $34,000 compared to $8,000, according to CIA World Factbook estimates for 2015.
“We are pretty much preoccupied with our own problems, which are quite considerable,” the ambassador said. Helping Ukraine solve its war with Russia or combat its internal corruption – “this is beyond our scope,” he said.
As for Israeli’s view of Ukraine’s investment climate today, the ambassador said: “There is movement. It’s too early to say whether it’s irreversible.”
So Israel’s ties with Ukraine amount to a series of specific private and public sector projects.
Israeli businesses have invested in real estate and an oncology hospital near Kyiv as well as diagnostic centers in Vinnytsia and Kharkiv which received Israeli government support, the ambassador said.
The government is also sharing its experience in various high technologies, including a southern Ukrainian pilot project with the Canadian government to introduce Israeli farming techniques in areas with a scarcity of water.
Israel has also sent experts to help with post-traumatic stress disorders caused by war.
Many other private initiatives are flourishing.
Israeli Erez Eshel, for example, has served as a consulting manager and mentor at the Ukrainian Leadership Academy for young people.
Another major initiative is Ukrainian Jewish Encounter, dedicated to reconciliation between Ukrainians and Jews, and supported by Canadian-Ukrainian philanthropist James Temerty.
The challenging situation for both nations hasn’t stopped high-level visits.
President Petro Poroshenko got the honor on Dec. 22 of addressing The Knesset, Israeli’s parliament, and meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
From Israel’s side, Israeli Minister of Justice Ayelet Shaked visited Ukraine in February and Speaker of Israeli Knesset Yuli-Yoel Edelstein is scheduled to arrive in May. And Nobel Prize winner in chemistry Dan Shechtman gave a lecture in Kyiv in February as well.
More high-level exchanges are on the way, he said, in a relationship whose best days may be ahead.
“Ukraine used to be the home of the biggest Jewish community in Europe before the Second World War,” Belotserkovsky said. “A lot of Jewish cultural, religious and social leaders came from Ukraine. This attracts a lot of Israelis. We have only started to develop this area.”
Israeli Ambassador to Ukraine: Since August 2014
Languages: Hebrew, English, Russian
How to succeed in Ukraine: “It’s very important to have patience and not be discouraged.”
Kyiv Post chief editor Brian Bonner can be reached at [email protected].
