Milah Tsur, Deputy Ambassador of Israel to Ukraine, stated in an interview with RBC-Ukraine that Tel Aviv remains ready, to the best of its ability, to facilitate any peace talks between Kyiv and Moscow. At the same time, according to her, neither side of the conflict has approached Israel with a request to act as a mediator. "Israel is always ready, to the extent of its capabilities, to help in any peace talks because we value peace and put the value of life above all else. But I think this involvement is probably neither desired nor requested by either side," the diplomat emphasized.
"Too many cooks in the kitchen"
Tsur commented on the growing number of countries and international structures offering their formats for resolving the conflict. She compared the situation to a kitchen where too many cooks are working at the same time: "It is like a situation when there are many cooks in one kitchen." In her assessment, there is a risk that an abundance of parallel initiatives and proposals will only confuse the negotiation process rather than bring it to a close. "We can reach a situation where there are already too many involvements and proposals, and everything just gets confused. Therefore, I think it is better to let the ongoing process run its course," the deputy ambassador said.
Priority of the American track
Answering a question about which specific negotiation format Israel would prefer, Tsur pointed to the process led by the United States. According to her, Tel Aviv "would very much like to see them reach some result." Thus, the Israeli side effectively recognizes the priority of the American negotiation track and does not intend to compete with it through its own initiatives, limiting itself to the role of a potential assistant if necessary.
Historical context: the 2022 attempt
It is worth recalling that Israel already took active mediation steps at the very beginning of the full-scale conflict. In March 2022, then-Prime Minister Naftali Bennett paid an unannounced visit to Moscow, where he held a meeting with Vladimir Putin to discuss the crisis. Immediately after that, Bennett contacted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. It was during that period that Israel officially offered its mediation in resolving the situation. Since then, as follows from Tsur's statement, neither Kyiv nor Moscow has returned to this initiative.
Position in the context of current negotiations
The statement by the Israeli deputy ambassador came against the backdrop of ongoing diplomatic efforts to stop hostilities. Tsur noted that a number of other countries are also actively facilitating the process and striving to end the violence, which, in her opinion, collectively creates an overload in the negotiation space. The diplomat expressed hope that the existing process led by Washington will be able to reach a concrete result, and Israel, if necessary, is ready to support it within its capabilities without duplicating the efforts of other participants.
