Kyiv–Tel Aviv: A shared fight for freedom

Two conflicts, two peoples under attack, two war zones that some still see as separate. And yet, Israel and Ukraine are today engaged in the same struggle, facing a common global threat: an authoritarian axis uniting Russia, Iran, and the terrorist organizations operating from Gaza. In the face of this reality, it is time for the world’s democracies to stop compartmentalizing their outrage. The fate of Kyiv and that of Tel Aviv are intertwined.

The return of empires—by force

Since February 2022, Russia has invaded Ukraine in a brutal attempt to reassert its imperial hegemony. This war seeks not only to destroy Ukrainian sovereignty, but to send a clear message: borders and international law no longer matter if a major power chooses to trample them. Thousands of civilians have been killed, Ukrainian children abducted and forcibly “Russified,” entire cities razed to the ground.

The method is clear, as is the ideology behind it. But the Kremlin’s ambitions extend beyond Ukraine. For years, it has built a strategic alliance with Iran, the primary supplier of weapons, funding, and ideology to terrorist groups across the Middle East. Iran arms Hezbollah in Lebanon, Shia militias in Syria, the Houthis in Yemen, and of course Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Gaza. These networks are now interconnected, and Russia supports them directly or indirectly.

An open convergence of dictatorships

The Iranian Shahed drones used to bomb Ukraine are the same ones sent to Palestinian armed groups. Hamas leaders have been welcomed repeatedly in Moscow—even after the October 7, 2023 massacre that killed over 1,200 Israelis. Russia has refused to condemn these attacks and blocked any UN Security Council resolution recognizing Israel’s right to defend itself.

This is not neutrality—it is a deliberate alignment. Russia today backs Israel’s enemies just as it supports its own armies in Donbas. It exploits chaos as a geopolitical tool and terrorist groups as instruments of destabilization.

Two democracies under attack for who they are

Neither Israel nor Ukraine is perfect, but they share one fundamental trait: they are democracies. They are free, open societies with elected institutions, where citizens can speak out, where minorities exist, and where civil society thrives.

That is exactly what troubles Moscow and Tehran. It is not just geography that makes these countries vulnerable—it is their way of life, their freedom, their refusal to bow down. Dictatorships, by their very nature, cannot tolerate examples of liberty near their borders. They fight them.

The West’s strategic error

For far too long, Western capitals have treated the war in Ukraine and the Israeli–Palestinian conflict as two unrelated issues, managed by separate diplomatic channels and framed in different languages. This is a major strategic error.

The reality must be faced: Russia, Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah, and other violent actors are cooperating. They share technology, funding, an anti-Western ideology, and a unified goal of bringing down the liberal world order based on law, freedom, and peaceful coexistence.

If we continue to ignore the link between Kyiv and Tel Aviv, all democracies will become increasingly vulnerable.

Resist together or fall apart

Supporting Ukraine weakens a Russian regime that fuels terrorism. Supporting Israel sends a clear message to Tehran and its allies: barbarism will not prevail. In both cases, this is not just a political stance—it is a moral and strategic commitment to defending our shared humanity.

Israel and Ukraine are not only fighting for their survival—they are fighting for all of us. Because what threatens them today may reach us tomorrow, if we lack clarity and courage.

The time has come to move beyond divisions, diplomatic silences, and sterile caution. It is time to recognize that what connects Kyiv and Tel Aviv is the front line of freedom against terror.