Bennett-Putin Meeting: Minister Disputes Zelenskyy Claims

Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett recently appeared on a podcast hosted by Hanoch Daum, where he recounted his March 2022 mediation efforts between Russia and Ukraine. Bennett claimed that Russian President Vladimir Putin told him directly that he had no intention of killing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Minister Ze'ev Elkin, who was present at that meeting, offered a sharply different account in an interview Monday on Galei Israel radio. "I was there, and I'll tell you what happened and what didn't," Elkin said. "I've already seen various versions of this story suggesting that thanks to Bennett, Zelenskyy's life was saved and so on."

Elkin confirmed that Bennett did ask Putin whether he intended to kill Zelenskyy, and that Putin answered no, providing his reasoning. "But that's where it ended," Elkin emphasized. "It was a question-and-answer exchange. We didn't influence Putin's decision on this matter in any way."

Radio host Yotam Zimri pressed Elkin on the potential danger of such assurances, asking: "Do you understand the risk of something like that? Suppose Putin decides to work you over, Zelenskyy goes out and they hit him with an RPG — then Israeli government representatives would be responsible for Zelenskyy's death."

Elkin pushed back: "First of all, don't ask me — I didn't give guarantees to Zelenskyy. You asked me what happened in the conversation. In the conversation there was a question, there was an answer. He also explained his reasoning." The minister added that he questions the wisdom of publicly discussing the episode at all. "It's not at all certain that it's smart to tell this story," he said.