Ukraine and Israel mend fences, prepare for FTA

The Ukrainian and Israeli governments formally ended months of discord on Monday, according to the Times of Israel. The signal for this change in relations was the meeting on Monday in Jerusalem of Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu. The meeting had originally been scheduled for December 2016, but was cancelled after Ukraine supported a UN Security Council resolution against Israeli settlement building.

After Ukraine worked against a UN Security Council resolution stating that Israel had no sovereignty over Jerusalem earlier in May, Groysman was again invited to Jerusalem. Commenting on the usually warm ties between the countries, Netanyahu stated that, “You reaffirmed that friendship for us in the important vote in UNESCO, which sets our relations on a future course, which I deeply appreciate.”

Groysman’s visit also focused on developing IT, security, and trade ties and in particular the finalization of a Free Trade Agreement between the countries. Both Groysman and Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko have called for the FTA to be signed by the end of 2017, according to Interfax-Ukraine.

James Hydzik: Ukrainian-Israeli ties began thawing in February, when Poroshenko and Netanyahu spoke by telephone. However, Groysman’s trip is significant, not least as he is Ukraine’s first Jewish PM, and his visit was unfinished business. We see the signing of the FTA by the end of the year as possible given the current sentiment, and with it an opportunity to further diversify Ukrainian exports, particularly in agriculture.