As Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepared to honor the victims of the Holocaust on Aug. 19 in Kyiv, Ukraine’s leader called on Israel to recognize another tragedy in the country’s history, the Holodomor, as genocide.
The term Holodomor refers to the manmade famine organized by Soviet dictator Josef Stalin in 1932-1933. It killed at least 3.9 million people, with some researchers claiming that up to 10 million Ukrainians starved to death.
“In commemorating the eternal memory of the victims of the Holocaust, which killed over 2 million Ukrainian Jews, Ukraine appeals to Israel to also recognize the Holodomor as an act of genocide against the Ukrainian people,” Zelensky wrote on Twitter on Aug. 19.
But taking that step could complicate Israel’s relations with Russia, which opposes Ukraine’s approach to the Holodomor.
Netanyahu’s state visit to Ukraine on Aug. 19 was widely seen as a historic event. An Israeli prime minister had not visited the country in 20 years.
During their meeting, the Zelensky and Netanyahu discussed economic and cultural ties between Ukraine and Israel in Kyiv’s Mariinsky Palace.
They also honored the memory of the victims of one of the largest massacres during the Holocaust, which was carried out by the Nazis in the Babyn Yar ravine in 1941. More than 33,000 Jews were killed during the two-day massacre, and thousands more Jews, ethnic Roma, Ukrainians and others were killed at the same site in the ensuing months.
Next year, construction will begin on a memorial complex at Babyn Yar. By 2023, the nonprofit behind the project plans to open a center to sustain the memory of the Holocaust’s victims in Ukraine.
It is no coincidence that Zelensky called on Israel to recognize the Holodomor as genocide during the visit to Babyn Yar.
The two genocides have an unexpected connection. Some witnesses of the famine claim that some of its victims were buried in Babyn Yar in 1932-1933.
In 2006, the Ukrainian parliament passed a bill declaring the Holodomor a genocide. Since then, 16 countries — including the United States, Canada and Australia — have supported Ukraine in identifying the tragedy as an act of genocide.
However, many believe that Israel is unlikely to recognize the Holodomor as genocide because of pressure from Russia.
Outgoing Ukrainian lawmaker Georgiy Logvynskyi, who has played an important role in Ukraine’s relations with Israel, says that the Holodomor issue is very problematic for Israel.
There were two attempts to recognize the Holodomor as genocide in Israel. The first one was initiated by Nava Boker, then vice-speaker of the Knesset, the Israeli legislature, in 2016 after visiting Ukraine. However, the bill was later withdrawn.
“There was tremendous pressure from Russian lobbies and Russia,” Logvynskyi told the Kyiv Post.
The most recent attempt occurred in 2018, when Israeli lawmaker Akram Hasson introduced another bill recognizing the Holodomor as genocide to the Knesset after visiting Ukraine and Kyiv’s Holodomor Museum.
Russia wasn’t happy with that move. The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs published a statement claiming that the Holodomor was a humanitarian disaster, not a genocide. It also called Ukraine’s view of the famine not factual.
Russia’s Deputy Ambassador in Tel Aviv, Leonid Frolov, warned Israel that it was not a good time to discuss such a proposal.
“They (Russia) threatened to change the military strategy against Israel if the bill is passed,” Logvynskyi told the Kyiv Post.
Kyiv Post editor Matthew Kupfer contributed reporting to this story.
