Will the Israel-Hamas conflict sap support for Ukraine in the West?
Russia could exploit Middle East violence to claim Western backing for Kyiv is waning

As the Israel-Hamas conflict continues to unfold, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has expressed concern about the potential loss of military support for Ukraine.
During a "surprise" visit to Nato headquarters in Brussels, where defence ministers are meeting, Zelenskyy highlighted the danger of a dwindling focus on Ukraine "at a time when turbulence in the US Congress threatens to disrupt aid for Kyiv and the world's attention is drawn to the crisis unfolding in the Middle East", said The Guardian.
"I want to be honest with you, of course it is a dangerous situation for people in Ukraine," Zelenskyy told reporters in Belgium. "If there are other tragedies in the world, there is only a certain amount of military support to share, and Russia hopes that support will be divided."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
He added: "There will be challenges with the American elections, and I talked to our partners and they said the support will stay, but who can tell that the support will stay, nobody knows."
The US defence secretary, Lloyd Austin, pledged a new $200 million military package to Ukraine on Wednesday, and said both Israel and Ukraine would be supported. "We can do both and we will do both," he said at the Nato meeting. "The United States will stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes."
What did the papers say?
Zelenskyy's presence at the Nato meeting "underscored growing concerns about cracks in what has been staunch international backing" for Ukraine as it continues its fight against the Russian invasion, said The Guardian.
But while Russia "may welcome that diversion", said The Washington Post, "a broader conflict in the Middle East" could sever Russia's "already frosty relations with Israel, a former economic partner and a potential high-tech military supplier for Ukraine".
Despite a once "close relationship" with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Vladimir Putin did not make any statements about the attacks until Tuesday, the paper added. Even then, the Russian president described the violence as "a clear example of the failure of U.S. policy in the Middle East" during a meeting with Iraqi prime minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani. Putin added that the US had never taken into account "the fundamental interests of the Palestinian people".
The war in Ukraine "has drawn Russia closer to Iran, Israel's most powerful regional rival and a key backer of Hamas, according to Western intelligence", said The Washington Post.
"Sensing the threat that the West could be about to lose focus on Kyiv", Zelenskyy has been "playing up" Iran and Russia's increasing close allegiance, "casting the fight against Russia and the struggle against Islamist militants as one and the same", said Politico.
"Israeli journalists who have been here in Ukraine, in Bucha, are now saying that they saw the same evil where Russia came. The same evil. And the only difference is that there is a terrorist organisation that attacked Israel, and here is a terrorist state that attacked Ukraine," said Zelenskyy in his address to Nato.
What next?
Russia is likely to "exploit" the Hamas attacks in Israel to shape a narrative that suggests a decline in US and Western support for Ukraine, warned the Institute for the Study of War (ISW). Russian state television and the pro-Kremlin blogosphere have already responded to the Hamas attacks with "thinly veiled glee", portraying it as a revelation of Western weakness and the beginning of a war that could diminish Western backing for Ukraine, said The New York Times.
Iran, too, might leverage the situation to "advance" several of its long-standing strategic objectives, including progress in its nuclear programme, the development of the Syrian defence industry, arms transfers with Russia, and the expulsion of the US from Syria, said the ISW in an additional report.
It is almost a "foregone conclusion" that the Hamas attacks on Israel will "reduce" the US's focus on Ukraine, said Politico, with Washington "absorbed" in the consequences of the ousting of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy by a group Republican hardliners who are also pushing to cut aid to Ukraine.
The US has "about $5bn left in funds to send new weapons to Ukraine", with Congress yet to approve additional funding for Kyiv, said the Financial Times. But despite concerns arising from Republicans removing financing for Ukraine from a government funding bill, signalling possible decline in popularity among Republican voters, the Biden administration has been keen to reassure Kyiv of its commitment.
US officials "point to generally widespread support among Republican and Democratic members of Congress for Ukraine as a sign that the aid will eventually be approved", said the paper.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Sorcha Bradley is a writer at The Week and a regular on “The Week Unwrapped” podcast. She worked at The Week magazine for a year and a half before taking up her current role with the digital team, where she mostly covers UK current affairs and politics. Before joining The Week, Sorcha worked at slow-news start-up Tortoise Media. She has also written for Sky News, The Sunday Times, the London Evening Standard and Grazia magazine, among other publications. She has a master’s in newspaper journalism from City, University of London, where she specialised in political journalism.
-
'Wonder drug': the potential health benefits of creatine
The Explainer Popular fitness supplement shows promise in easing symptoms of everything from depression to menopause and could even help prevent Alzheimer's
-
What's next for Elon Musk?
Today's Big Question The world's richest man has become 'disillusioned' with politics – but returning to his tech empire presents its own challenges
-
Quiz of The Week: 24 – 30 May
Have you been paying attention to The Week's news?
-
The France-Indonesia push for an Israeli-Palestinian two-state solution
Talking Points Both countries have said a two-state solution is the way to end the Middle East conflict
-
Starving Gazans overrun US-backed food aid hub
speed read Israeli troops fired warning shots at the Palestinians
-
Israel's Western allies pull back amid Gaza escalation
speed read Britain and the EU are reconsidering allegiance with Israel as the Gaza siege continues
-
Israel-US 'rift': is Trump losing patience with Netanyahu?
Today's Big Question US president called for an end to Gaza war and negotiated directly with Hamas to return American hostage, amid rumours of strained relations
-
Israel's plan to occupy Gaza
In Depth Operation Gideon's Chariots will see Israel sending thousands of troops into Gaza later this month to seize control of the strip
-
Can the world stop Israel from starving Gaza?
Today's Big Question Total blockade on food and aid enters its third month, and Israel is accused of 'weaponising starvation'
-
Israel approves plan to take over Gaza indefinitely
speed read Benjamin Netanyahu says the country is 'on the eve of a forceful entry'
-
Putin talks nukes as Kyiv slated for US air defenses
speed read 'I hope they will not be required,' Putin said of nuclear weapons on Russian state TV