Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zalansky is often using social media these days, where he uploads his statements and videos from the war that broke out in Ukraine two weeks ago. Zalansky today (Wednesday) submitted a request for a speech to Knesset members via the Zoom app as part of the speeches he delivers to members of various parliaments.
The Ukrainian Ambassador to Israel, Yevgen Kornichuk, submitted the request to Knesset Speaker Miki Levy today. Zalanski’s speech will eventually take place.
This is not Zalanski’s first speech to MEPs: Yesterday Zalansky delivered a similar speech to the British Parliament and last week he addressed the European Parliament leaders in this way. The Ukrainians are not interested at this stage in having a regular zoom call on the grounds that this is not respectable.
2/2 >>> The Knesset is not the executive arm of the government and must accept a request from a state leader who wants to speak before the representatives of the public in Israel.
Every smear of the application, puts us as elected officials on the negative side of history. pic.twitter.com/LiSFLEKQlx– Eli Avidar Eli Avidar (@avidareli) March 9, 2022
Office of the Speaker of the Knesset: “Zlansky was invited to speak from a distance in an official video call”
Knesset Speaker Levy wrote in honor of Ambassador Kornichuk that the Knesset would have the honor of allowing President Zalansky to speak in front of its members. “Since the Knesset is going on vacation tomorrow and the Knesset plenum is scheduled to be renovated immediately upon entering the vacation, the Speaker of the Knesset invited President Zlansky to speak from a distance to Knesset members in an official video call.”
At the end of a letter sent by Levy to the Ukrainian ambassador, the Speaker of the Knesset shared the Ukrainian people’s grief over the loss of life, prayed for the end of the war and stated that Israel would continue to help alleviate the suffering of the Ukrainian people.