Ship Ukraine says carries stolen grain will not offload in Israel after diplomatic row

Israeli official says decision made by importer, not government; Kyiv praises ‘welcome development,’ but Foreign Ministry keeps fight going online

A shipment of grain that Ukraine says was stolen by Russia will not be unloaded in Israel, an Israeli official told The Times of Israel on Thursday, after several days of back-and-forth between Kyiv and Jerusalem over the fate of the controversial cargo vessel.

According to the official, the decision to not offload the ship was made by Israeli importer Zenziper, not by government officials. Kyiv praised the move as a “welcome development.”

Despite the resolution of the latest shipment, Israel continued its online fight with Ukraine, reiterating on Thursday afternoon that Ukraine’s request for legal assistance this week “contained significant factual gaps and did not include any supporting evidence.”

“The Israel Police reached out to the Ukrainian Prosecution with a request to provide additional information and supporting evidence, as required by Israeli law,” said the Foreign Ministry on X.

“Meanwhile, we were informed that the vessel that was supposed to enter the port next week decided to depart from Israel’s territorial waters,” the ministry continued. “Israel abides by the rule of law and its authorities will always act in accordance with the law.”

The Panama-flagged Panormitis bulk cargo ship arrived in the Haifa bay this week and was waiting for permission to berth in the northern Israeli port.

However, after the Haaretz daily reported that it was carrying grain from occupied Ukrainian territory, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha summoned Israel’s ambassador to Kyiv and demanded answers over Jerusalem’s “lack of appropriate response to Ukraine’s legitimate request” regarding the fate of the ship. Haaretz also reported that four shipments of grain from occupied Ukraine had already been unloaded in Israel this year.

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar told Sybiha that Ukraine had provided no evidence to support allegations that the grain was “stolen,” and accused him of conducting diplomacy through the media.

Israel, he added, “is a state that abides by the rule of law,” and any legal action must be based on substantiated evidence submitted through official channels.

“We say again to our Ukrainian friends: If you have any evidence of theft, submit it through the appropriate channels,” Sa’ar said, adding that Israel “will not be influenced” by public pressure.

After Sa’ar’s statements, Kyiv pushed back, saying it would go after the “enablers” of Russia’s shadow fleet and warning “all entities and nations that we will react strongly to any theft of our grain.”

After the back-and-forth, grain importer Zenziper said Thursday that “in light of the circumstances,” it would not unload the cargo in Haifa and the shipment would need to find another destination to offload its contents.

Prior to the announcement, Zenziper CEO and chairman of the Israel Grain Importers Association Itay Ron had insisted that the shipment was a standard Russian grain ship, saying: “This is a supplier that has been working with us for quite a long time, delivering goods from Russia.”

According to Ron, the Russian exporter said that the grain came from Siberia, not occupied Ukraine, and that claims to the contrary likely stemmed from the fact that it was loaded in the port of Berdyansk, a Ukrainian port city under Russian control.

“I have no way of verifying that,” he said, adding that he did not seek to cause any diplomatic issues and looked to the Foreign Ministry for instructions on what to do with the ship.

The company ultimately decided to reject the shipment, but did not offer reasoning for the change.

The decision was praised by Ukraine, with Sybiha calling it a “welcome development.”

“This demonstrates that Ukraine’s legal and diplomatic actions have been effective,” the top Ukrainian diplomat wrote on X. “This is also a clear signal to all other vessels, captains, operators, insurers, and governments: Do not buy stolen Ukrainian grain. Do not become part of this crime.”

Sybiha said that Ukraine will continue to track the Panormitis ship, and “will also continue to ramp up international sanctions measures against Russia’s shadow grain fleet.”

Kyiv considers all grain produced in the four regions that Russia claims as its own since invading Ukraine in 2022 — as well as Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014 — to be stolen, and has protested its export to other countries.

Russia calls the regions its “new territories,” but they are still internationally recognized as Ukrainian. Moscow has not commented on the legal status of the grain collected in them.

Traders have told Reuters that it is impossible to track the origin of wheat once it is mixed.

Earlier this month, Israel reportedly allowed a Russian vessel accused by Ukraine of carrying stolen Ukrainian grain to dock at a Haifa port, claiming it was too late to turn the ship around.

Sa’ar, at the time, sent a message to his Ukrainian counterpart claiming that the vessel could not be detained due to the late notice, even though Israel had reportedly been aware of it two weeks before it arrived.

Senior Ukrainian officials had been demanding the confiscation of the wheat cargo.