Israel–Ukraine relations

Israel - Ukraine relations

Israel	Ukraine

Israel–Ukraine relations are foreign relations between Israel and Ukraine. Both countries recognized each other de facto on 11 May 1949 as the Ukrainian SSR and established de jure diplomatic relations on December 26, 1991 as an independent state. Israel has an embassy in Kyiv. Ukraine has an embassy in Tel Aviv and a consulate-general in Haifa.

In July 2010 the foreign ministers of two countries sign an agreement of non visa traffic between Israel and Ukraine. This came into effect on February 9, 2011 and since then Ukrainians and Israelis may enter territory, travel through or stay on Ukraine/Israel without having to obtain visas for 90 days within a period of 180 days. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko stated in September 2016 that this visa-free regime had increased tourist flow between two countries tenfold. In November 2014, Oleg Vyshniakov, a Ukrainian entrepreneur and public figure, was appointed to Israel's honorary consul in western Ukraine. In May 2015 he was inaugurated as honorary consul of Israel in Lviv.

Israeli president Reuven Rivlin meeting with Pavlo Klimkin, 2017

Ukraine is also the first state, apart from Israel, to have both a president and prime minister of Jewish origin.

History

Embassy of Ukraine in Tel Aviv

When Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union as the Ukrainian SSR, it was one of the 33 states that voted for a Jewish state in the Mandatory Palestine during the UN Partition Plan in 1947. Later, the Soviet Union broke off relations with Israel in 1967 after the Six-Day War and restored diplomatic relations in 1991.

Ukraine is associated with the Holocaust as the site of Babi Yar. A special tourism program for Jews and Israelis was developed in cooperation with the Lviv Municipality and the District Administration, includes visits to Jewish memorial sites and architecture, operated by Hebrew speaking tourist guides.

In May 2015 launched a direct flight Lviv-Tel Aviv-Lviv operated by Ukraine International Airlines, running regular flights twice a week. The Israeli government said it did not vote in support of Ukraine against Russian aggression in 2014 due to a public workers strike.

Ukrainian Jews

Main article: Ukrainian Jews

Ukraine has one of the world's largest Jewish communities. At the same time, Ukrainian Jews make up a significant proportion of Israel's population.

Economic relations

In 2012, the bilateral trade turnover between the countries was 1.3 billion dollars, a growth of 49.1% in comparison to 2011. The total export of Ukraine was 922.5 million dollars (796.4 in products and 126.1 in services). The import reached the amount of 364.2 million dollars (266.8 in goods and 97.4 in services). The main exports from Ukraine to Israel in 2012 were: grain (50.6%), non-precious metal (18.2%), aircraft (6.9%), food industry byproducts (5.8%), oil seeds and oleaginous fruits (3.3%), fats and oils of animal or vegetable origin (1.5%), electrical machinery (1.2%), nuclear reactors, boilers, machinery (1.1%). The main Israeli imports to Ukraine in 2012 were: mineral fuels, mineral oils and products of their distillation (42.4%), various chemical products (9.0%), plastics (7.0%), goods purchased in ports (5.5%), pharmaceutical products (4.8%), electrical machinery (4.4%), nuclear reactors, boilers, machinery (4.1%), fruits and nuts (3.1%), optical: photographic equipment (2.2%), soap: organic surface-active substances (1.9%), synthetic or artificial (1.7%), vegetables (1.6%), essential oils (1.5%).

Vice Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze with Minister for Regional Cooperation of the State of Israel Tzachi Hanegbi, 2018

Israel Foreign Trade Administration at the Ministry of Economy operates an Economic & Trade Mission in Kyiv. Its main goal is the promotion of trade and export by assisting Israeli industry expanding in the Ukrainian market, supporting individual exporters in marketing activity in Ukraine, attracting investment and expansion of strategic cooperation with Ukraine, improving knowledge of the Ukrainian business of Israeli industry and economy and helping in solving problems arising for Israeli companies operating in Ukraine. The economic attaché in Ukraine is Elizabeth Solovyov. Israel's honorary consul in western Ukraine, Oleg Vyshniakov, established an inter-ministerial committee for Ukrainian-Israeli trade and economic cooperation, as well as an economic business forum, which launched in November 2015 in Kyiv. Leading developers in the fields of Industry and Trade in Ukraine and Israel are taking part of this program.

Ukraine has been Israel's main wheat supplier for many years, accounting for almost half of the country's wheat consumption. Israel also imports corn and corn products, barley, rapeseed and soybeans. Agricultural exports to Israel exceed $400 million a year.

State visits

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko paid a state visit to Israel on December 22, 2015, where he met with Israeli President Reuven Rivlin and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and addressed the Knesset. Rivlin visited Ukraine in September 2016.

Notable incidents

• Siberia Airlines Flight 1812 – Ukraine accidentally shot down a plane from Tel Aviv, killing 40 Israelis and 38 Russians.
• Dirar Abu Seesi abduction

See also

• Foreign relations of Israel
• Foreign relations of Ukraine
• History of the Jews in Ukraine

External links

• Israeli embassy in Kyiv
• Ukrainian embassy in Tel Aviv (new version of the website)
• Ukrainian embassy in Tel Aviv (old version of the website)
• Website of the Israeli honorary consulate in the Western Ukraine
• Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs considers budget increasing possibility on humanitarian projects for Ukraine. in Interfax-Ukraine, November 3, 2015