- May 29, 2026
- 6:31 pm
- Israel, Ukraine
Ukraine responded to Israel’s criticism over the reburial of Andriy Melnyk and proposed to move the sharp public dispute to a professional format — through a joint Ukrainian-Israeli dialogue of historians, archives, and the work of an expert commission.
It’s not just about the ceremony in Ukraine. For Israel, the topic of the OUN, World War II, the Holocaust, and the memory of the victims of Nazism remains extremely sensitive. For Ukraine, which has been at war against Russian aggression since 2022, the issue of the national pantheon and the return of historical figures has also become part of a broader memory policy.
It is at this intersection of two traumatic histories that a new diplomatic nerve has emerged.
What caused the dispute between Ukraine and Israel
The reason was the reaction of the Israeli side to the reburial of the head of the OUN Andriy Melnyk and his wife Sofiya Fedak-Melnyk in Ukraine.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry expressed regret over the official state ceremony of Melnyk’s reburial, stating that “historical truth and the memory of victims killed by the Nazis and their accomplices cannot be ignored.” The Yad Vashem memorial center also criticized, expressing “concern over the state heroization” of such a figure.
The Ukrainian side now responds not with simple denial of claims, but with an attempt to broaden the question: if it is about a complex history, it should be examined not by political slogans and not by Soviet-Russian clichés, but by historians, archives, and joint expertise.
This is an important point for the Israeli audience. In Israel, the memory of the Holocaust is not an abstract topic of the past, but part of national identity, family history, and public security. Therefore, any Ukrainian statements on this topic in Jerusalem are perceived with particular attention.
Ukrainian deputies called for a joint historical commission
Co-chairs of the Ukraine-Israel inter-parliamentary friendship group Olga Vasilevska-Smaglyuk and Viktoria Kinzburska on May 29, 2026, published a joint statement regarding the reburial of Colonel Andriy Melnyk.
In it, they emphasized that Ukraine deeply honors the memory of Holocaust victims, strongly condemns Nazism, and highly values Israel’s support in countering Russian aggression.
But further in the document, another emphasis was made: Kyiv considers categorical assessments of Ukrainian liberation movement figures inappropriate without considering the entire historical context. According to the authors of the statement, these figures acted in an era when the peoples of Eastern Europe found themselves between Nazi and Soviet totalitarianism, and the struggle for independence was often accompanied by difficult moral and political dilemmas.
Why Kyiv talks about archives
Ukrainian deputies called for a professional and unbiased dialogue of historians, as well as the study of Ukrainian archives within the framework of a joint Ukrainian-Israeli historical commission.
Separately, the statement highlighted the risk of using only Soviet and Russian sources. According to the Ukrainian side, such an approach often leads to a distortion of the historical picture and propagandistic manipulations.
For Israel, this argument also does not seem secondary. After October 7, the Israeli society well understands how quickly history, memory, and moral categories turn into a tool of political pressure. Ukraine, for its part, sees how Russia has been using the topic of World War II for years to discredit Ukrainian statehood and the national movement.
Therefore, the question is no longer just about Melnyk.
The question is whether Ukraine and Israel can talk about the most painful pages of the past in a way that does not leave this field to Russian propaganda.
Korniychuk reminded of Kyiv’s previous initiative
The Ambassador of Ukraine to Israel Yevhen Korniychuk previously mentioned that even before Russia’s full-scale invasion, the Ukrainian diplomatic side proposed to Israeli partners to create a joint expert commission on historical heritage issues.
According to the diplomat, this initiative did not meet with interest from the partners at the time. Now, Kyiv believes that returning to such an idea could be an important step for constructive and professional dialogue.
At this point, the conflict goes beyond a single ceremony. NAnovosti — Israel News | Nikk.Agency views this story as an example of how Ukrainian-Israeli relations face not only the current war, diplomacy, and security but also heavy layers of memory, where any sharp word can be perceived as a political signal.
Parallel with Menachem Begin
In the statement of Ukrainian parliamentarians, Menachem Begin is separately mentioned. The authors draw a parallel: Begin led the underground organization “Etzel,” fought against the British mandate, and later became the Prime Minister of Israel and a Nobel Peace Prize laureate for the peaceful settlement of relations between Israel and Egypt.
This does not mean that Kyiv is proposing Israel to mechanically accept the Ukrainian version of history. Rather, the Ukrainian side is trying to show: the biographies of national movement leaders often do not fit into a simple formula of “hero” or “criminal,” especially when it comes to underground, war, empires, and the struggle for statehood.
But for Israel, such argumentation inevitably remains painful.
The memory of the Holocaust does not allow for easy analogies. Therefore, any Ukrainian historical argument must sound as carefully as possible, without attempting to devalue the Jewish experience and without rhetoric that may appear as justification for collaboration with the Nazis.
From Olena Teliha to Vulf Latsky
Ukrainian deputies also reminded that during the Nazi occupation of Kyiv, dozens of members of the OUN Melnyk underground were executed. Among them was the Ukrainian poet Olena Teliha.
Another symbolic argument of the statement is Vulf Latsky, buried in Israel. He was one of the ministers for Jewish affairs of the Ukrainian People’s Republic. The authors reminded that in 1917–1920, Ukraine was one of the first European states where there was a separate ministry for supporting the Jewish community.
Thus, Kyiv tries to bring the conversation from the plane of mutual accusations to the plane of common history.
Not to erase the dispute.
Not to close painful questions.
But to show that Ukrainian-Jewish history is not limited only to tragedies, collaboration, pogroms, and political conflicts. It also had periods of cooperation, attempts at institutional protection of Jewish life, and common pages that today can become the basis for a more mature conversation.
Why this dispute is important right now
The reburial of Andriy Melnyk occurred at a time when Ukraine is forming its own national pantheon, and Russia simultaneously tries to use any discussion about World War II against Kyiv. Moscow has already publicly condemned the reburial and summoned the ambassador of Luxembourg over the transfer of Melnyk’s remains to Ukraine.
For Israel, the situation is more complicated.
On the one hand, Jerusalem cannot remain silent when it comes to figures that Israeli historical memory “associates” with the Nazi era and the threat to Jews. On the other hand, Israel is interested in maintaining relations with Ukraine — a country that today opposes Russian aggression and where there remains a significant Jewish history, Jewish communities, and memory of the Holocaust on Ukrainian soil.
That is why the proposal for a joint commission may not be a diplomatic formality, but a practical way out of the crisis.
If historians from both countries have the opportunity to work with archives, compare documents, and discuss controversial figures without propaganda pressure, it will not resolve all contradictions. But such a format will at least allow not turning every new memory date into a political explosion.
The Ukrainian side in its statement thanks the Israeli society and the State of Israel for supporting Ukraine in the existential confrontation with Russian aggression.
Now the question is whether the parties will have enough political will to move from public reproaches to a difficult but necessary conversation.
Because the memory between Ukraine and Israel is not an archival topic.
It is part of today’s diplomacy, security, and the struggle for who will explain the past: historians of the two countries or Russian propaganda.
Who made the statement: the Ukraine-Israel group in the Verkhovna Rada
The joint statement on the reburial of Andriy Melnyk was signed by Olga Vasilevska-Smaglyuk and Viktoria Kinzburska — co-chairs of the deputy group of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine for inter-parliamentary relations with the State of Israel.
This is a parliamentary group responsible for contacts with the Knesset: meetings of deputies, political dialogue, issues of supporting Ukraine, security, historical memory, and ties between Ukrainian and Jewish societies.
The group has been working in the current IX convocation of the Verkhovna Rada since 2019. The first working meeting on the Ukraine-Israel line took place on November 12, 2019.
On the official page of the Verkhovna Rada, the group includes 63 deputies. The co-chairs are Olga Vasilevska-Smaglyuk and Viktoria Kinzburska. Among the deputy co-chairs are Volodymyr Ivanov, Yuriy Kamelchuk, Volodymyr Kreidenko, Oleksandra Ustinova, and Sviatoslav Yurash.
Recent visit to Israel
An important detail: representatives of this group recently visited Israel.
A delegation of Ukrainian parliamentarians led by Olga Vasilevska-Smaglyuk was in Israel from June 7 to 13, 2025. In the Knesset, this visit was presented as the arrival of a Ukrainian parliamentary delegation led by the head of the friendship group with Israel.
According to the Knesset, Ukrainian deputies met with Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Yuli Edelstein, co-chair of the Israel-Ukraine parliamentary friendship group Zeev Elkin, as well as Knesset members Boaz Bismuth and Volodymyr Belyak.
The main topics of the meetings were Russia’s war against Ukraine, parliamentary dialogue, security, sanctions pressure, humanitarian issues, and Ukrainian-Israeli cooperation.
Following the visit, the parties agreed to expand inter-parliamentary dialogue, maintain constant contact between the friendship groups of the Verkhovna Rada and the Knesset, and work on more regular communication between deputies of the two countries. This was also reported by the Embassy of Ukraine in Israel.
Why this is important in the “dispute” about Melnyk
Therefore, the current statement is not a random remark by individual politicians.
It was made by deputies who lead the Ukraine-Israel parliamentary channel and have already been involved in direct contact with the Knesset. Their proposal to return to the idea of a joint Ukrainian-Israeli historical commission looks like an attempt to move the dispute about Melnyk from a public squabble to a format of working with archives and historians.