Sa'ar accused of hypocrisy after panning Sybiha for X diplomacy

Kyiv summons Israeli envoy, EU warns of sanctions after 2nd ‘stolen’ grain ship incident

Ukraine says it ‘reserves right to deploy full suite of diplomatic and international legal responses’ if if Israel does not reject latest cargo from Russian-occupied lands

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on Monday that Israel’s ambassador had been summoned to his ministry over what he described as Israeli inaction in allowing shipments of grain to enter the country from Russian-occupied Ukraine.

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

The Haaretz daily reported earlier that the vessel Panormitis, which it said was carrying grain from occupied Ukrainian territory, was waiting for permission to berth in Haifa.

The newspaper said four shipments of grain from occupied Ukraine had already been unloaded in Israel this year.

A European Union spokesperson later told The Times of Israel that Brussels has “taken note” of reports on the Russian vessels and warned that those involved could face EU sanctions.

“We condemn all actions that help fund Russia’s illegal war effort and circumvent EU sanctions, and remain ready to target such actions by listing individuals and entities in third countries if necessary,” the EU spokesperson told The Times of Israel in a statement.

“In a joint démarche with Ukraine, we are requesting additional information from the Israeli authorities on this subject,” the spokesperson added.

Sybiha, writing in English on the X social media platform, said it was “difficult to understand Israel’s lack of appropriate response to Ukraine’s legitimate request regarding the previous vessel that delivered stolen goods to Haifa.”

“Now that another such vessel has arrived in Haifa, we once again warn Israel against accepting the stolen grain and harming our relations,” he wrote.

Israel’s ambassador, Sybiha said, had been asked to appear at the foreign ministry on Tuesday so that Kyiv could “present our protest note and request appropriate action.”

In his response, also on X, Sa’ar said the issue would be examined, but that allegations were not evidence and no evidence had been provided.

“You did not even submit a request for legal assistance before turning to the media and social networks,” Sa’ar said.

Diplomatic relations “are not conducted on Twitter or in the media,” he added.

Sa’ar quickly faced allegations of hypocrisy, as he regularly hits out at Israel’s critics using his social media accounts.

Later, a community note was added to Sa’ar’s post on X responding to his Ukrainian counterpart.

“Ukraine provided evidence and formal requests for legal assistance to Israel regarding previous shipments of alleged stolen grain since March, including ambassadorial meetings and a judicial cooperation request, despite claims to the contrary,” the note said.

A Ukrainian diplomatic source, speaking earlier on condition of anonymity, said that if Israel did not reject the latest cargo, Kyiv would “reserve the right to deploy a full suite of diplomatic and international legal responses.”

The source said Kyiv was tracking the latest vessel and Israel had “essentially shrugged off” Kyiv’s previous demands.

Earlier this month, Israel reportedly allowed a Russian vessel 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.

Ties between Israel and Ukraine have been delicate since the Russian invasion began in 2022.

Last month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has sought to maintain a neutral stance between Moscow and Kyiv, even though Russia has been providing critical intelligence to Iran in the US-Israel war against Iran.

Ukraine has sought to purchase Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system, but Netanyahu ruled that out to avoid antagonizing Russia.

Israeli officials routinely defended this stance when Russia controlled the skies over Syria before the fall of Bashar Assad’s regime in 2024. Since then, some Israeli officials have been willing to break more publicly with Moscow, but Netanyahu has avoided doing so.