A survey conducted by the International Institute of Sociology of Kiev in December found that 55.1% of respondents believed Israel is “friendly” towards Ukraine, compared to just 17.3% who disagreed with the statement. 27.6% of respondents said they did not know or had no opinion on the question.
The survey also showed that 88.2% of Ukrainians support cooperation with Israel in the medical field, while 68.1% support cooperation on issues regarding national security. Furthermore, 66% of the Ukrainian respondents said they were interested in visiting the Jewish state.
Most interestingly, the survey asked subjects which side they supported in the ongoing conflict between Israel and Iran. While a total of 71% said they did not support either, did not understand the conflict, or had difficulty answering, 27.5% of participants said they supported Israel – compared to just 1.4% who said they support Iran.
"The results of the survey illustrate what we knew about the attitude of the Ukrainian public towards Israel," said Michael Brodsky, Israel's ambassador to Ukraine. "The countries have close and friendly relations. In the last 30 years, we have created significant collaborations for the two peoples."
Ukraine is currently governed by Jewish President Volodymyr Zelensky. While Ukraine's pre-war Jewish population of about 1.5 million was virtually wiped out during the Holocaust, An estimated 0.2% of Ukraine's 41 million population is Jewish.
Zelensky, who had many of his family members perish during the Holocaust, said during the third annual Kyiv Jewish Forum in mid-December that “Both Ukrainians and Jews value freedom, and they work equally for the future of our states to become to our liking and not the future which others want for us.”
“Israel is often an example for Ukraine,” Zelensky declared.