KJF participants: US should support Israel and Ukraine as it supported "friends" during the Cold War

During the discussion at the Fifth Kyiv Jewish Forum, experts agreed that the United States under President Donald Trump will restrain Ukraine and Israel from military responses to Russia and Iran, but the United States must support both countries: refusal to support one of them will create a vacuum that will be filled by enemies.

According to Jerusalem Post military analyst Jon Bob, Israel will want to show the Trump administration its readiness to attack Iran's nuclear facilities, but while Trump has previously encouraged such strikes, with the start of the new presidential term, he may press Israel to show that it has been more restrained.

But, Bob believes, sanctions against Iran, as well as against Russia, will not force these countries to restrain aggression on their part.

"So I think there may be a conflict between Israel and the United States at some point about whether to strike and what to strike. But, undoubtedly, Trump will be much more supportive of Israel in the use of force against Iran than the Biden administration," he said.

Daniel Vajdich, president of Yorktown Solutions, an international consulting firm that works with the Ukrainian energy sector and one of the most prominent Ukrainian lobbyists in Washington, noted that there are influential people in Trump's environment who are very focused on China and believe that the United States cannot support Ukraine because it is a distraction. At the same time, American allies in East Asia-Taiwan, South Korea, Japan-say that the United States must support Ukraine, otherwise its defeat will embolden China.

"I believe that uniting the initiative on Ukraine and Israel is good for the United States," Vajdich said.

According to Seth J. Frantzman, Middle East correspondent and analyst for The Jerusalem Post, one cannot simply say "Let's support one and leave the other."

"Nature does not like a vacuum. So if you leave a part of the world, the enemy will jump in. So the United States should do what it did during the Cold War: defend each front in a different way, but equally in the same alliance system. This includes Ukraine, democracies in Europe, the Baltic states, Scandinavia, Israel, friends in the Middle East and Africa, Taiwan, South Korea, Australia-these are the same allies of the United States as during the Cold War. So the situation has not changed much," Frantzman said.

He reminded that China and Iran have a new 25-year agreement. In addition, Iran has joined the BRICS, which is part of the Sino-Russian economic alliance, so they all work together.

"We have to work together against them," the expert said.

The Kyiv Jewish Forum has been held for the fifth year in a row. This year, it was held online, and Washington, D.C., became the central venue. The Kyiv Jewish Forum is organized by the Jewish Confederation of Ukraine and The Jerusalem Post.

Media partners of KJF-2024: NV, Oboz.ua, RBC-Ukraine, Telegraf.ua, Inter.

During the opening of the forum, JCU President and Vice President of the World Jewish Congress Boris Lozhkin emphasized that Ukrainians and Israelis have high hopes for the return of the US administration, which has previously demonstrated its determination to help both Ukraine and Israel.